Oct 3, 2006 11:04 am US/Central
Carpentersville Officials To Discuss Immigrant Law
Law Would Make English Official Language, Punish Employers Of Illegal Immigrants
CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. (CBS) ―
Village officials in
Carpentersville are expected Tuesday to discuss a proposed ordinance that some claim would drive illegal immigrants out of town.
The "
Illegal Alien Immigration Relief Act " prohibits conducting business with/or renting to "illegal aliens." Violators face losing their business license and landlords would be fined $1,000. It also makes English the official language of the village.
The ordinance states: "illegal immigration leads to higher crime rates, contributes to overcrowded housing, and failing schools, subjects our village to fiscal hardship….and diminishes our overall quality of life."
The Latino population of Carpentersville has been growing in recent years, and two civil rights groups said the proposed law unfairly targets immigrants.
"This ordinance is based on really caricatured stereotypes of immigrants," said Fred Tsao with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Immigrant rights activist Ricardo Meza, with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund wrote a letter to the village protesting the ordinance. He plans to pack next week's village meeting with citizens who feel the same way and says three identical ordinances in Missouri, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey have all been challenged in court because he says they are unenforceable.
But Trustee Paul Humpfer who drafted the ordinance says the laws addresses a real problem.
"It is impacting us as a village, not only from a cost perspective, but also from a crime perspective," he said.
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