The Lincolnwood Village Board was met with calls at its Oct. 9 meeting to have signage put up around town that provides contact information for organizations that offer support and resources for immigrants who may need it – amid the ongoing federal enforcement efforts in the Chicago area.
“How many posters will the village put up around the city?” Pam Lefkowitz asked mayor Jesal Patel directly. “I’ve got a bunch in my car.”
She was referring to yard signs she and others brought to the board meeting that included contact information for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights helpline. Lefkowitz wanted the signs to be posted at Village Hall, the police department and in other prominent public buildings and locations around Lincolnwood.
Lefkowitz said she was not surprised when Patel seemed to disregard her public request, calling up the next speaker during the public comments portion of the meeting without acknowledging her question.
“During a board meeting, it is the board’s job to say nothing,” said Lefkowitz. “They won’t respond. They won’t have a discussion. I understand that. But it is a little frustrating that nothing happens afterwards.”
Neither Patel nor any police official responded to Pioneer Press’s post-meeting request for comment on the issue.
Since Lefkowitz last went before the board asking village leaders to do something publicly amid the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the area, the federal agents’ enforcement efforts have intensified.
“It’s scary. It is very scary. I won’t lie. I’ve got neighbors who are very afraid, are afraid to leave their homes. They don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Lefkowitz.
In addition to her new request to put the immigration hotline signs up around Lincolnwood, she also requested the village establish “ICE-free zones” which call for denying federal immigration officials access to public-owned property.
Lefkowitz had made other requests of the mayor and the Village Board at the Sept. 16 meeting.
Village leaders did not respond to those calls either. It is customary for the board to not respond to comments made during the public comment portion of a meeting. Village trustees and village staff usually discuss only what is on the night’s meeting agenda.
Lefkowitz said she understands why members of a small Village Board would hesitate to weigh in directly on matters of national politics.
“Politics at a local level typically revolves around commerce and fences. You know, local things,” Lefkowitz said.
But she told the board she believes when national politics comes to local doorsteps, a different kind of leadership is required.
“This is different. This is very, very different. We have ICE coming into all of the suburbs now.”
Alan Kozeluh is a freelancer.
