Lake County official clarifies deportation plan

Lake County Homeland Security Director Wayne Hunter met with the county board Friday to clear up misconceptions about the sheriff's plan to give some jail officers deportation powers.

The controversial proposal would allow corrections officers to start deportation paperwork only for illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes, sex offenses, serious drug crimes and other severe crimes, Hunter said.

Jailed illegal immigrants convicted of lesser crimes would not be affected by the proposal, nor would illegal immigrants without criminal records, he insisted.

Additionally, the sheriff's patrol deputies wouldn't be eligible for the program, Hunter said. Only six officers stationed at the jail would participate.

The 50-minute discussion during the morning's committee-of-the-whole gathering soothed some commissioners who had criticized the plan, fearing the sheriff's office would target a larger population.

"If that's the way it ends up, it assuages many of my concerns," Highland Park Democrat Anne Flanigan Bassi said.

The presentation also strengthened the support of some commissioners who've backed the plan.

"When you get people breaking our laws, I say (you're) gone -- adios," board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt said.

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran last month announced plans to qualify six corrections officers for deportation powers available to police departments under a 1996 law. He's the first sheriff in Illinois to apply for the powers.

Thousands of people protested the Waukegan City Council's decision to seek the same powers last year. The sheriff's office hasn't faced that kind of public protest.

Under current rules, Lake County's corrections officers contact immigration officials whenever they come across an inmate who wasn't born in the U.S., has been in jail for at least four days and has been convicted of a felony or two misdemeanors.

It's then up to the federal agency to start deportation proceedings.

That would continue if the sheriff's proposal is approved, Hunter said. The six corrections officers would start deportation proceedings themselves only for more serious criminals, he said.

Expanding the program to illegal immigrants convicted of lesser crimes likely would overwhelm the federal agency, Hunter said.

Of the 3,440 illegal immigrants the jail reported to immigration authorities between 2001 and 2006, none were deported, Hunter said.

"It is not practical to consider the deportation of the woman stealing baby food," he said, referring to an hypothetical situation the board discussed. "They can't handle the sheer volume of the numbers."

County board member Bob Sabonjian railed against the proposal early in the meeting but softened his stance by the end of the talk, saying he'd support the plan if only serious criminals are targeted.

Afterward, however, Sabonjian said he's still concerned about potential abuses and described the effort as a means to intimidate the county's Hispanic population.

"We're just going to have to wait and see what happens," said Sabonjian of Waukegan.

It could be more than a year before the corrections officers are granted the deportation powers, Hunter said.