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The Grundy County Commission’s Law and Justice Committee considered the Immigrant Busing Ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting, and the ordinance will be up for a vote at the next County Commission meeting on Tuesday.
The county’s version of the ordinance is consistent with ordinances already issued by the City of Morris and other municipalities.
Commission Chairman Drew Muffler said Grundy County is ahead of the curve. The commission declared Grundy County a “non-sanctuary county” at its December meeting, and a few weeks later, the driver of a bus full of refugees being transported from Texas to Illinois on Interstate 55. Signs were posted warning people to continue driving.
“If you saw the clip from last night’s village board meeting, Joliet, Hinsdale, Woodstock and several others adopted ordinances with this exact language,” Muffler said. said.
County Commission Chairman Chris Balkema responded to a question from Commissioner Caleb Counterman, who asked about the continued use of I-55 signs.
Balkema said the markings were done at the time because there was a sense of tension after a bus carrying 30 or 40 immigrants was dropped off in Kankakee.
“Instead of having a special meeting, we took advantage of the non-sanctuary status that we passed at that point a few weeks ago and said, ‘Okay, what do we do if immigrants show up?'” Barkema said. Told. “So the first phase of our two-phase approach was to keep customers moving. There were no buses coming out of Texas that were destined for Grundy County. All of them had a destination of Chicago.”
Muffler said he has seen migrants drop themselves off in downtown Hinsdale and groups of people wrapped in blankets next to the station.
State Attorney Russ Baker said the city used bus ordinances from target cities, including Rosemont, which has many hotels and convention centers, and Aurora, which has a large Hispanic community, to create the ordinance. He said those two cities were ahead of the curve on issues similar to Grundy County.
“In our own way, it’s very simple,” Baker said. “With non-scheduled buses in the city, we don’t stop, stand, park or drop off passengers. We don’t have bus lines. We don’t have rail. Somewhere in Grundy County. If you want to send them out, it’s like sending them out to the cornfield.”
Baker said Texas has shown some goodwill in busing immigrants to pay for Metra passes.
“They’re trying to get them to a place where they can be taken care of, and a place like here is not a target because they don’t have the infrastructure or support to do that,” Baker said. “But we’re trying to prepare for contingencies in case we go south from there. Chicago has already announced they’re getting rid of buses.”
Baker said the original intergovernmental resolution between Grundy County and the city of Morris was always written with the intention of covering Minooka, Coal City and other cities in the county.
This ordinance, like other ordinances passed by other municipalities, imposes a $750 fine for each passenger illegally brought into Grundy County and gives the county the power to seize buses. It would also allow police to charge them with other crimes that could still be prosecuted within state statutes.
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