Ana Guajardo said she keeps telling people “it’s not over, it’s not over,” referring to the federal immigration enforcement surge last fall, known as Operation Midway Blitz.
Guajardo, executive director for the United Workers Center, said she has seen immigration enforcement rapidly increase this spring, especially in Chicago’s south suburbs, where she said officers move quicker and are harder to track.
She said her nonprofit is working to get south suburban municipalities to pass “welcoming cities” ordinances.
These welcoming ordinances, often referred to as sanctuary city laws, aim to limit the powers of state and local police to assist federal law enforcement on immigration-related matters, similar to the state’s Trust Act.
The Blue Island City Council passed a version of a sanctuary ordinance Tuesday that prohibits federal immigration authorities from conducting operations on public property, although its unclear how this policy would be enforced.
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Blue Island nonprofit owner Pablo Padilla advocated for the ordinance, saying it would show deeper solidarity with residents. He said his nonprofit, a ministry of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, holds English learner and youth programs, but said people stopped seeking those resources during Midway Blitz.
“Although our community organizations, local and partners do our best to respond to these atrocities, it feels as we are saving individuals from falling into a river when the solution clearly is to build a bridge so that people won’t be falling in there,” Padilla said.
“I ask for more intentionality to protect members of our community,” he said.
A Blue Island statement said the ordinance clarifies that city-owned property is intended to serve local government purposes and will not be used to support federal civil immigration enforcement activities.
The statement also said Blue Island police are focused on preventing crime, responding to emergencies and enforcing state and local laws, not federal immigration enforcement, as that’s the responsibility of federal agencies.
Blue Island city officials have stated multiple times that its police do not participate in federal immigration enforcement activities.
Guajardo and a few other advocates said the Blue Island ordinance was a good start, but said they wished it more closely aligned with Chicago’s policy and included language prohibiting enforcement cooperation beyond city property, such as restricting police cooperation.
While Chicago, Calumet City and other Illinois municipalities passed laws years ago, recent immigration enforcement has revamped discussion and some controversy around these policies in Naperville, Elgin, La Grange and Skokie. Chicago has also faced a federal lawsuit over its policy.
Dylan Robinson, immigration organizer for United Workers Center, said welcoming city ordinances are important because they put in writing that people can seek city resources, report crimes or even be pulled over for a traffic stop without officials reporting them to federal authorities, similar to the state’s Trust Act.
“It’s just kind of more specificity on the local municipality, what they can do and what they can enforce strictly within their area and just kind of defining on their terms, hopefully providing more clarity on their operations,” he said.
When Calumet City passed its welcoming city ordinance in 2017, the policy stated city departments would not condition the provision of city services or benefits based on an individual’s immigration status. It also stated police would not stop drivers or pedestrians for the sole purpose of examining their identification documents and individuals may present a foreign passport as proof of identity without being subjected to additional scrutiny.
Calumet City officials said at the time the ordinance could give teeth its sanctuary city resolution, first passed in 2009.
Robinson also said he hopes welcoming ordinances could strengthen the state’s Trust Act, which generally prohibit local and state law enforcement from assisting the federal government in immigration enforcement matters, by reemphasizing it on a local level.
While the Trust Act restricts collaboration between local and federal authorities in immigration enforcement, a writer of the law, Fred Tsao, told the Southtown in April that an arrest in Tinley Park showed loopholes and a need to strengthen the law. In that example, an officer reported a man to federal authorities during a traffic stop.
“It’s safe to say that there’s a lot of gray area, and as much as we want to discourage active information sharing and communication with, you know, in order to facilitate immigration enforcements, there’s still language in the Trust Act that could be clearer,” Tsao said in April.
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Blue Island officials, along with Guajardo and Robinson, have urged residents to know their rights and have a plan in place. The city has posted advisories on social media describing a family emergency plan from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center.
Guajardo also warned people against interfering with immigration authorities without the proper training. She advised people to reach out to the United Workers Center, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Resurrection Project and local rapid response groups for resources.