Elgin council approves plan for resolution urging federal agents be unmasked
The Elgin City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a resolution urging lawmakers to ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from wearing face masks.
Council members Anthony Ortiz and Diana Alfaro proposed the resolution. It’s expected to be formally approved at a future meeting.
Ortiz said the masked agents were “terrorizing our citizens.”
“It’s a really bad situation right now in our nation with (what) these federal agents are doing,” Ortiz said.
Masked agents have been seen and documented by residents on social media in Elgin since early this year.
“So with this resolution, I think it’s the most we can do at the level of government we’re at,” Ortiz said.
If approved, the resolution would call for federal legislation prohibiting law enforcement agents from concealing their identities by wearing masks and requiring them to wear appropriate uniforms and present identification during enforcement operations.
Alfaro said she had been monitoring what other communities were doing around the country and considered the resolution “a good step.”
She also asked that the city make a public statement on the issue. Mayor David Kaptain said one was in the works.
“How can we better support our community, stand with our community, but publicly tell the federal administration that what they’re doing is not OK, and they need to change,” Alfaro said.
Council member Tish Powell said federal agents wearing masks to hide their identities is a constitutional rights issue that affects everyone.
“We don’t know who they are because they’re faces are covered, and they’re not showing any identification,” she said. “That’s a problem.”
State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, an Aurora Democrat, introduced legislation in July that would prohibit local, state and federal law enforcement from wearing masks or neck gaiters while on duty, with certain exceptions.
Neither the city nor state can legally enforce a mask ban on federal agents because it would violate the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution, Elgin’s Corporation Counsel Christopher Beck said. The clause says local laws can’t take precedence over federal law.
Police Chief Ana Lalley said Elgin officers are prohibited from wearing masks while on duty. They also have their names and badge numbers on their vests, which are clearly marked with the Elgin police markings.
“If you see officers whose faces are masked up and they’re wearing vests, they are not Elgin police officers,” she said.
Illinois law enforcement are prohibited by the Trust Act from assisting in any immigration enforcement operation. Conversely, local departments aren’t permitted to impede with operations either.
Council member John Steffen said there’s only so much the city of Elgin could do.
“At the end of the day, what we’re doing is a resolution in support of a certain action,” he said. “But that’s not solving the problem.”
Council member Rose Martinez had harsh words for those hiding their identities.
“Let’s just call it for what it is, they’re being cowards,” she said.