La Grange Leader Denounces ICE Actions, Says Deaths Shook Him Up
LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange's village president said Monday that local officials try hard to refrain from commenting on national politics, but he made an exception for ICE.
Village President Mark Kuchler and other local officials responded to residents' requests for some type of "welcoming" ordinance for immigrants.
"I'm personally very shook by two murders
He also said he was concerned with
"That strikes me as completely wrong," he said.
The village, Kuchler said, has a "very limited role" with such an issue, but he said he was willing to consider a welcoming ordinance.
"I don't want to enter a stage to debate just to debate," he said.
Trustee Lou Gale asked the village's staff to draft an ordinance for consideration.
"I know we don't like to get involved in large national issues," Gale said. "At the same time, this has landed on our doorstep. Therefore, we can't ignore it."
Trustee Beth Augustine agreed.
"It seems very reasonable to put an ordinance like this in place," she said. ICE's activities "have gotten so much worse. It's certainly hard to sleep at night."
She noted suburban Wilmette enacted such an ordinance.
That town's law bars its employees from inquiring about people's immigration status and federal immigration officers from using Wilmette village property for immigration enforcement, according to
At the La Grange meeting, resident Mike Waters, who belongs to the progressive group Indivisible, asked the board to enact a welcoming ordinance.
"We have already seen immigration operations in La Grange, and it is reasonable to expect that we will again," Waters said. "To those who argue that these measures are purely symbolic, I say symbolism matters. These actions would send a message of support to immigrants who live and work in this community, and that would make an important statement about our values as a community."
