ICE takes down “illegals” in C’ville

The Associated Press and WBBM 780 is reporting that “Operation Community Shield, a two-year-old nationwide initiative in which ICE agents partner with federal, state and local law enforcement to combat gangs”, netted arrests of 21 reputed gang members, 19 of which were in this country illegally.

Agents made most of the arrests in Carpentersville, which has been a focus on the immigration debate in the northwest suburbs. Additional arrests were made in Belvidere, Bensenville, Cary, Lake Zurich and West Dundee.

Carpentersville Village President Bill Sarto, who has maintained that immigration enforcement is primarily a role of the federal government, said he is supportive of ICE doing periodic sweeps like this as a matter of public safety.

“This is the kind of action that I’ve been supportive of since my election.” Sarto said.

Answering some of his critics who he says have wrongly accused him of wanting to protect illegal immigrants in “safe havens”, Sarto responded, “I voted for 287(g) training for our officers. I signed a letter sent to Congress requesting federal action and reforms on immigration and border security.”

“These arrests actually show that the federal government is acting on our concerns. I’m happy that our officers could assist in this operation to crackdown on gangs in our community and protect our citizens.”

Since [Operation Community Shield] began, Immigration agents have arrested more than 7,500 street gang members representing more than 700 gangs.

And what about those who claim that Sarto has said there is no illegal immigration population in Carpentersville?

“I actually never said that. I said that we needed evidence of the problems some of our trustees were saying were caused by illegals. I didn’t want our citizens unfairly targeted. ICE knew who they were after. I think we need to be just as certain in the actions we take locally.”

Some people just don’t pay attention

Sometimes one reads an editorial letter and says “Huh? What is he/she talking about?”

Dan Pluth’s letter to the editor appearing in today’s Daily Herald is one of those times.

Upon a closer reading of the letter, one finds that mention of President Sarto’s comments and vote related to an amendment to the “Vehicles and Traffic” ordinance appears to be simply a ruse used to once again regurgitate illegal immigration rhetoric, and pretend that Sarto is the cause. Sarto ended up voting for the amendment, which adds a Village administration fee of $250 plus applicable storage fees for the retrieval of an impounded vehicle.

A response to an email that I sent Sarto asking him about his vote, in light of the comments he’d made earlier, states:

I voted for it because when the actual amendment was presented it changed very little of what we were doing already, so it seemed appropriate to vote for it. In the end, because things that I believed would be a problem were not in the amendment, I felt it was acceptable.

If Mr. Pluth wants to know “how President Sarto remains in office”, he should be sure to check out yesterday’s letter to the editor, which provides several examples of major issues on which Sarto demonstrated leadership. That letter concludes:

It’s my observation that Sarto knows what he is talking about and it’s high time for the newspapers and the public to listen to him. Sarto has been leading. Others have not been following.

Now, its not exactly true that “others have not been following”. It is just that they have taken their sweet time in doing so. Presently, the Board is unanimous in the position that Sarto has espoused from the start: wait and see how the Hazleton case turns out. It just took them until after the election for some to come to that conclusion.

Still, Pluth asks of Sarto:

[W]hy he is so supportive of illegal immigrants who have shown such disregard for the laws of this country.

I believe Sarto has answered this question on more than one occasion: He isn’t. When a July 2000 letter written by Sarto was republished in the Daily Herald, Sarto readily acknowledged it and that he still felt the same today in pointing out that it is an issue the federal government must deal with appropriately. That letter called on the federal government to do something about illegal immigration. Sarto has also voted for a resolution sent to the federal government, seeking federal action to establish better border security and immigration reforms. And, he supported the request for ICE’s 287(g) program, in which local law enforcement is trained by, and partners with, federal immigration enforcement officers.

These seem to be prudent actions taken to support a uniform establishment and enforcement of immigration laws, rather than a piece-meal approach. In doing it this way, it ensures that the rights of American citizens and legal residents are not abridged in pursuit of those allowed into this country illegally.

One shouldn’t fault Pluth, though. Several people aren’t paying attention. Unless they begin to, they will likely be making the same mistakes as a result.