FAQS ABOUT THE C'VILLE ILLEGAL EMIGRATION RELIEF ORDINANCE

FAQs about the Carpentersville Illegal Emigration Relief Ordinance

 

Will it be illegal to speak Spanish on the streets of Carpentersville when the ordinance passes? Absolutely not! Businesses in the area are free to advertise and conduct business in any language that benefits them. The ordinance only applies to Village Government. In the past, the Village has spent large sums of money to translate and publish Village documents in Spanish. That will no longer happen. (By the way, the current practice of printing the Village documents only in Spanish is unfair to Koreans, Poles, Brazilians…..who live in town!)

 

Will it be illegal to sell food and merchandise to illegal aliens? No. The ordinance applies only to employers and landlords.

 

Fair housing laws prohibit discrimination in housing. How will you get around that? According to the law, it is illegal to rent a room to someone who is in the country illegally, even for one night. To avoid any misunderstanding, the ordinance is clear that housing discrimination against anyone with a legal presence in the United States is strictly prohibited.

 

Won’t it make it harder for “foreigners” to get a job or housing? No, quite the opposite. As the federal immigration commission pointed out in 1994, employers who were afraid of hiring someone who looked foreign because they didn’t want to take the chance of violating the law, would now have a definitive answer about residency status. The ordinance takes the guesswork out of deciding who is legal and who isn’t. No one needs to take a pass on someone just because they might be illegal. You can now know for sure.

 

Who is going to enforce the law? Most of the burden will fall upon code enforcement officers, with the police department having a lesser role.

 

Won’t this violate confidentiality laws? No. All verification will take place using federally approved methods and databases. Access is restricted to employers or trained Village employees. The database searches will return a “go/no-go” message without sharing details about the individual. When you think about it, we currently trust our data to the police and other Village employees such as code enforcement officers. That won’t change.

 

Does this ordinance discriminate against Hispanics? No. In fact, it forbids discrimination. The ordinance imposes fines on employers and landlords who knowingly hire or rent to illegal aliens. The Village will not arrest or detain illegal aliens under this ordinance. In addition, any allegations that someone is illegal must be verified by the federal government before it becomes a violation of the law.

 

Why does it seem to be focused on Hispanics? Because of proximity, economic conditions and family ties, 81% of illegal aliens are from Mexico and Latin America. That is a national statistic reported by the Pew Hispanic Center. Locally, the number might even be higher. It seems focused on Hispanics because of the nature of the problem, not because of prejudice. The ordinance is color blind. It is based on verification of legal presence – not race, color or country of origin.

 

How will employers know who is illegal and who isn’t? Forged documents look so real. The Department of Homeland Security keeps databases to verify who has a legal right to work in the United States. The Basic PILOT Program has existed since 1997 and is available to all employers at no charge. It verifies that the Social Security Number matches the name and also checks Green Card and Work Visa data.

 

What about landlords? How will they know who is here illegally? First of all, most landlords conduct a background check on their renters. If you’ve ever traveled out of the United States, it is a common practice for hotels to ask to see your passport when you check in. You think nothing of it. Enquiring about someone’s right to be in our country is legal since it protects landlords from harboring illegal aliens. Upon request, the Village will have the responsibility of verifying the immigration status on behalf of the landlord. In addition, no fines will be imposed on a landlord for the first offense. The fines begin when the landlord is made aware that he is renting to an illegal alien and fails to correct the problem.

 

Will this ordinance eliminate crime and overcrowding? Not entirely. Of course, citizens and legal residents sometimes commit crimes and live in overcrowded conditions, too. One of the best kept secrets is who is legal and who isn’t. This ordinance will provide a way to know – a way that is administered by government, not based on hearsay and prejudice.

 

I heard that other similar ordinances have been ruled illegal? Not true. Legal challenges have been filed by the ACLU and others, but no rulings have been handed down.

 

Will this ordinance weaken our bond rating, insurance rates or legal protection? No. Rumors have been started to that effect, but Village Trustees have contacted Moody’s, our insurance carrier, and IRMA and were assured that these groups do not get involved in politics.

 

Aren’t the CarpentersvilleTrustees who support this ordinance violating the law? No, actually they are doing their job. Everyone who holds elected office takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America. Laws have existed for decades that prohibit employers from hiring illegal aliens. Harboring illegals is also a violation of the law. In reality, those elected officials who look the other way while the laws are being broken are violating their oath of office.

 

Why bother? There aren’t very many illegal aliens living here anyway. Not counting naturalized citizens, over half of the immigrants in the United States are here illegally. By nature, they don’t step forward to be counted. But they number in the thousands here in Carpentersville. A crowd of 2,000-3,000 people came out to protest the ordinance on October 3rd, 2006. That ought to tell you something about the numbers.

 

What will happen to these families who lose their jobs and apartments? The right thing for them to do is to return to their home countries and apply for legal entry if they so desire. This ordinance will not tag the illegal aliens with any criminal charges that will impede their application.

 

Why are you separating families? Perhaps Gail Montenegro, spokesman for the Chicago office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said it best: “We hear a lot that ICE is separating families, and my response is that we don’t separate families. Families make decisions, including coming here illegally. These are the consequences. The parents have placed their families in this position.” This ordinance allows illegals to leave the country without a criminal record.

 

The problem isn’t the illegal aliens; it’s the people who hire them. Why don’t you go after them? Exactly.

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THE C'VILLE ORDINANCES - UPDATED