Illegal immigration is one of those “hot button” issues, like abortion and gay marriage, that seems to spur argument and garner attention every time it’s mentioned.
So I’ve been surprised at the city’s reaction, or non-reaction, to last Sunday’s decision by University Police to turn over an apparently illegal immigrant to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a decision that very well might lead to his deportation.
On campus, the response has been relatively swift. The Northwestern College Democrats are planning a rally at the arch at 4 p.m. on Thursday to protest the transfer. The gathering comes after several Letters to the Editor and comments on The Daily Web site.
But in the city, it’s crickets. The ever-active citizen message boards have been silent. And when I called two aldermen for comment Sunday night, they told me they didn’t know what I was talking about. I guess city officials and residents have been too worried about swine flu to care.
They should pay attention.
On April 26, a UP officer pulled over the 25-year-old on suspicion of drunk driving, UP said. When trying to find out his identity, they apparently discovered he was in the country illegally and decided to make the transfer.
No big deal; it happens all the time, right?
Not in Evanston. The transfer was one of the first, if not the first, in our city in a long time, according to local officials.
Still, it’s not like there’s a law telling police in Evanston not to hand over illegals to federal agents, right?
Well, not technically. But actually, there almost was. The Evanston City Council considered an ordinance to that effect a little more than a year ago.
The proposed law, which sought to make Evanston a safe haven for illegal immigrants and instructed police to not consider citizen status at all, generated controversy and was eventually amended for legal reasons. The final legislation, passed unanimously last March, came in the form of a symbolic resolution calling for illegal immigrants to be treated “on a humane and just basis” by city officials.
Yes, I know it was just a symbolic resolution. As a former senator in the NU Associated Student Government, an organization specializing in non-binding resolutions, I know all too well that that type of legislation doesn’t really do anything.
But it still means something, right?
It means the council, acting on behalf of the entire City of Evanston, wants this area to be a place where immigrants don’t have to live in constant fear because they don’t want to go through a broken immigration process to be able to work to provide for their family.
Ald. Edmund Moran (6th), after we informed him about the arrest, told us he didn’t think the resolution applied to UP because they have their own jurisdiction over NU.
With respect to the alderman – whose voice on the council I have always respected – the last I checked, NU lies within the city limits. If he’s suggesting Evanston laws don’t apply to students, that comes as quite a shock to me.
The fact is that, personal beliefs aside, UP’s recent transfer represents a massive contradiction to the legislation our city’s government passed just one year ago. And for city officials and residents not to be talking about it is disappointing, at best.
The College Dems are hoping some Evanston residents show up at Thursday’s rally, ASG President Mike McGee told me Sunday night.
I hope so, too. In particular, I hope to see each of the nine city council members, who a year ago made a symbolic statement that now seems like an empty promise.
-Brian RosenthalCity Editor
Note: The original version of this article said the College Democrats rally was taking place on Monday. The group decided after press time to move their protest to Thursday.
