EUREKA, Ill. – The Woodford County Board is the latest local government body deciding not to take any action on the politically charged issue of immigration.
Tuesday night, the board tabled a resolution that would have declared Woodford County a non-sanctuary county, meaning it would not spend tax dollars to care for undocumented migrants, other than to provide emergency services if an influx of asylum seekers arrived in central Illinois.
According to 25 News, all 15 county board members are Republicans. They heard from 16 speakers Tuesday night during public comment, with a majority of them opposed to the resolution, finding issues with its language.
“It’s morally suspect, it’s factually incorrect in many ways, it’s legally impotent as far as I can tell. It’s more of some sort of political grandstanding,” said Terra Rockman of Congerville, opposing the resolution.
Another speaker said, if accepted, the resolution would be a bad representation of the open-handed, big-hearted people of Woodford County.
“Sanctuary means safety, and to be a non-sanctuary county, it means you’re labeling yourselves as unsafe,” said Eric Potter of Metamora.
The Central Illinois Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union also spoke out against the resolution.
Just two speakers spoke in favor of the resolution, though they said it needed some tweaking.
Last week, the Marshall County Board tabled a similar resolution and like Woodford County, no date was set for county officials to take up the issue again.
In February, the Stark County Board chose not to consider the matter, and the McLean County Board in January rejected a measure banning the use of county tax dollars to assist migrants.
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