Kane residents have right to know

Kane County citizens have a right to know.

Doug Heaton, president of Elgin's Association for Legal Americans (AFLA) wrote Kane County Sheriff Perez for information on how his office and the immigration office of ICE worked to screen for illegals. He asked how frequently ICE interviews the inmates that could be foreign-born and how it's done. Did the sheriff office call ICE in? How does ICE respond? Are the results of ICE reviews made public? Mr. Heaton asked if the sheriff had any data, as some county jails indicate immigration status on their inmate profiles. He wanted to know if Kane County offered this information. These questions asked of Sheriff Perez were courteous and professional.

Sheriff Perez's reply to Mr. Heaton's questions were: "any issues concerning illegal aliens in our custody are addressed by our staff with ICE, not the general public. We are not a federal immigration enforcement agency, and your questions are narrow in their scope and borderline insulting. We comply with IDOC regulations and operate our facility according to NIC standards."

I am disappointed in the sheriff's arrogant response to Mr. Heaton's questions. It seems to me he thinks the citizens of Kane County have no right to this information. How ICE responds and how his department contacts ICE when illegals are jailed is of the utmost importance in trying to rid our communities of illegal law breakers.

The person who showed a lack of respect is Sheriff Perez. AFLA has thousands of Kane County voters as members, and his answer is unacceptable. I think every citizen in Kane County has a right to know how many illegals are arrested and what actually happens to them. Even through they are here illegally, are they just released? After they are released how many are arrested again and how frequently? By having this information we will be able to see what is working and even more important what's not.

David White

Vice President of AFLA

Elgin