By Howard Packowitz
NORMAL – In front of a standing-room crowd, council members in Normal decided to make the town a welcoming community.
The council voted 5-2 Monday night for an ordinance requiring the police chief to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to work with federal immigration agents. The chief must weigh public safety and the impact cooperation with the Feds might have on relations between the police and immigrant communities.
“The one main criticism I’ve heard about this ordinance in its current form is to not tie our police’s hands in their abililty to do their jobs,” said Councilman Kevin McCarthy, who voted for the measure.
“Chief tells me that this ordinance does not do that,” McCarthy said.
“If you’re in our community and you need our services, and you’re buying our services, we’re fine with that. We don’t need to know your status,” said Mayor Chris Koos.
Council members Jeff Fritzen and Scott Preston voted no, believing the council is overstepping its bounds as a policy-making body by venturing into operational functions of the town government.
Still, Fritzen commended immigration advocates and town staffers for trying to find middle ground.
“We live today in a hyper-political environment,” said Fritzen.
“There’s not much meeting in the middle, and if nothing else, we should not forget that that took place, that there was a meeting in the middle.”
Fritzen, the council’s senior member, blamed inaction on immigration at the federal and state levels for forcing the contentious issue on local governments.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
