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Board debate over ICE actions in Joliet prompts heated exchange and calls for decorum
Summary
Member Ortiz described recent immigration enforcement actions in Joliet and nearby towns and urged the board to support Latino families; other members defended law enforcement and rule-of-law principles, prompting the chair to repeatedly enforce rules of decorum and to urge a strategic-planning process to improve board cohesion.
Member Ana Ortiz told the Will County Board she was unable to limit herself to celebratory remarks during Hispanic Heritage Month because of what she described as aggressive immigration enforcement in the county. "In Joliet, ICE agents rammed into a car and dragged people out, leaving terror behind," Ortiz said, and later added that agents "smashed through a car window in broad daylight" and that parents were taken at school drop-off.
Ortiz urged colleagues to "stand with our Latino community" and criticized the lack of transparency about who had been detained, where they were taken, and…
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