PAXTON — In a symbolic stand against the state’s handling of the migrant crisis, the Ford County Board voted 8-3 to approve a resolution declaring the county a “non-sanctuary county for immigrants” Monday night.
The resolution was recommended for approval by the board’s five-member zoning committee following its review by State’s Attorney Andrew Killian. While merely symbolic, it is designed to send a message to state lawmakers and Gov. J.B. Pritzker that not all counties agree with Illinois’ self-declared “sanctuary state” status under the 2017 Illinois Trust Act.
Ford County Board members Chase McCall and Sarah Mussman, both of Gibson City, look on during Monday night’s board meeting in Paxton.
The zoning committee’s chairman, Ann Ihrke of rural Buckley, said she is concerned because Ford County lacks the resources to handle busloads of migrants being abandoned locally — a scenario that has occurred in recent months in other area counties, including neighboring Kankakee — even if such a scenario seems unlikely in Ford County at this point. From a lack of space in hospitals, schools, hotels and motels to limited police protection, Ihrke said migrants would strain the county’s resources even further and require local taxpayers — who are living in the U.S. legally, she noted — to pick up the tab.
“It has nothing to do with the color of somebody’s skin or where they’re from,” Ihrke said. “It has everything to do with us having resources that our taxpayers pay for … and if we have tons of people come in, then the (resources available are stretched for the) people who live here.”
The resolution was drafted using language from two similar resolutions already approved elsewhere — in Grundy County, Ill., and Douglas County, Colo. — both of which were reviewed by Ihrke’s committee. The hope of Ford County officials is that other counties in Illinois follow suit and approve similar resolutions, as well, to lead to positive change statewide.
“It’s a way of saying to the state of Illinois … that we don’t want to have a problem,” said Ihrke. “To me it’s inhumane to have people dropped off here in the winter time when we have nothing to offer — when we have no place to put them.”
Board member Tim Nuss of Roberts agreed that the county needs to take a stand.
“We’re trying to stop bad things from happening,” Nuss said.
Like Nuss, board member Randy Ferguson of Gibson City voted in favor of the resolution, but he did so only after expressing his opinion that a symbolic resolution would likely make no difference.
“My problem is the (resolution) has no teeth,” Ferguson said.
As fellow board member Chase McCall of Gibson City had suggested at an earlier zoning committee meeting, Ferguson recommended the county instead work toward an enforceable ordinance that could help proactively address the migrant crisis, using input from community stakeholders such as the county’s municipalities, social service agencies and hospital, for example.
An initial meeting with other entities to discuss a possible plan of action is already scheduled. Ford County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Terry Whitebird is organizing the public meeting, which is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23, in the board room in the basement of the sheriff’s office and jail in Paxton. In addition to county board members, among those invited to attend will be local law enforcement agencies, village presidents and state lawmakers representing the area, including state Sen. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, and state Rep. Jason Bunting, R-Emington. Also invited, as suggested by McCall, will be officials from the East Central Illinois Community Action Agency.
In other counties, ordinances have been adopted to allow authorities to impound buses or fine bus companies that unload passengers there without permission — similar to what Chicago and Aurora already do under ordinances that apply only to within their respective city limits.
While no plans were immediately discussed to do the same in Ford County, local officials want to find some way to address potential issues before they arise. While transporting migrants out of the county could be an option, too, there may not be a bus service available locally to do that, and there is also no Amtrak stop anywhere in Ford County, with the closest ones being in Rantoul and Gilman.
Shortly after Monday’s meeting ended, the three board members who voted against the resolution — District 1’s Carson Vaughn of Paxton and District 3’s McCall and Sarah Mussman of Gibson City — issued a news release explaining their reasons for voting “no.”
“This resolution is non-enforceable and essentially provides a false sense of security for residents of this county,” their news release said. “The fact of the matter is, even after this resolution is passed, migrants can still stop in Ford County, but there is no plan, process or procedure to handle a potential influx of migrants who are looking for work, shelter or resources to keep moving. Not to mention, this resolution does not impact resources within municipalities in the county, and the Illinois Emergency Management (Agency) has opined that these types of county resolutions could bring undue burden and stress on those same municipalities. There was no community input sought from different organizations. Last, the United Counties Council of Illinois recently stated an overwhelming majority of counties are not considering a resolution like the one approved by the board. To our knowledge, only Ford County, Grundy County and Effingham County have passed similar resolutions.
“Our ‘no’ votes on this resolution signify an imperfect understanding of the reality at play here — this unenforceable resolution does not provide any protections or guarantees that migrants would not seek refuge here and has unintentionally put us on the map. We understand the concern residents of Ford County may have about the potential arrival of migrants. As your county representatives, it is difficult to support resolutions that do not make an impact. We need a proactive plan to responsibly handle situations where we have an influx of migrants to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all persons.”
Board member Chuck Aubry of Gibson City was absent Monday.
Prior to the vote, four members of the public spoke about the migrant crisis, including three — Luke Ehmen, Anthony Guarino and Ken Seneca — urging the board to take a stand by approving the resolution.
“I feel that some board members and some people feel that doing nothing is the course of action (to take here),” Seneca said during the public-comment portion of the meeting. “But sometimes we have to stand up.”
