I believe Arizona had to do something and wish Illinois would also do the same. Wondering what the rally in Kenosha tomorrow will do.
http://www.kenoshanews.com/home/local_rally_participants_to_unite_7823695.html
Local rally participants to unite
Service set to protest detention, deportation of illegal immigrants
BY TERRY FLORES
tflores@kenoshanews.com
As many as 100 religious leaders are expected to attend a prayer service and rally Thursday calling for immigration reform and the end to detention and deportation of illegal immigrants.
The service begins at 11:30 a.m. at Immanuel United Methodist Church, 5410 Sheridan Road, and will move to a parking area near the Kenosha County Jail at 1000 55th St., and also to U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan’s office at 5455 Sheridan Raod, according to Sister Barbara Pfarr, spokeswoman for Wisdom, a statewide coalition of faith-based groups active in immigration reform.
Prayers planned
Participants will be praying for inmates who are being detained in the county on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she said.
“We see the detention system as a symbol of what’s wrong with the immigration system,” Pfarr said Tuesday. “We do believe they are there unjustly when they could and should be out there providing for their families.
As of Monday, the county had 164 Immigration and Customs Enforcement inmates logged in its system, according to Sgt. Gil Benn, sheriff’s department spokesman. Benn said 139 inmates are at the Kenosha County Detention Center, 4777 88th Ave., while the remainder are at the downtown jail.
‘Broken system’
Pfarr said inmates are often moved from jail to jail, which is characteristic of a “broken system.” Rather than placing immigration detainees in jail, enforcement officials should consider other options, she said.
Pfarr said most have committed no felonies and have violated civil laws rather than criminal laws. She suggested having them wear ankle bracelets for monitoring, rather than a jail stay, saying it would be less costly.
“What we’re protesting is the immigration system. And, what happens to them with the detention system is a symptom of how bad the immigration system is broken,” she said.
To house federal inmates, Kenosha County is paid $70 per day per inmate.
Sheriff David Beth said the county does not use ankle bracelets and would likely not use them for illegal immigration detainees.
“We don’t have electronic monitoring. We don’t have the capability to do that,” he said. “If we ever got to the point where we’re filled over the capacity, maybe then we would do that with our own inmates.
“We would do, and already do, what the federal government has asked us to do and that is house (federal immigration inmates). I don’t think the federal government would typically ask us to monitor with an ankle bracelet.”
Thursday’s rally also is directed at the Obama administration, which immigration activists say isn’t moving fast enough to ensure comprehensive immigration reform.
Arizona’s reform
Last week, Arizona passed its own reform that allows police to ask anyone for documentation proving their legal presence in the United States.
Beth said the sheriff’s department does not arrest people who are in the country illegally or put them in jail “unless they’ve committed a crime.”