Advocates: Investigate McHenry Co. sheriff's office

SPRINGFIELD — An immigrant advocacy group has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to look into accusations of racial profiling at the McHenry County Sheriff's Office.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights held a news conference in Springfield Wednesday to address what it called a system of racial profiling set up in a relationship between the sheriff's office and a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the advocacy group, said McHenry County has a contract with the federal agency that provides roughly $95 per day per person to house immigration detainees. He said the jail houses more than 300 immigrant detainees each day.

“Racial profiling of Latinos by bad cops is a bad thing,” Hoyt said. “But because you have an economic incentive to fill your jails with undocumented immigrants, it's a whole lot worse.”

James Sotos, an attorney representing the McHenry County Sheriff's Office, said an internal investigation is in progress and the department is committed to operating with integrity. He also emphasized there has been no determination from anybody that racial profiling is occurring.

“We respect the coalition's work, but the request is premature,” he said. “The sheriff is committed to ensuring there is no racial profiling in the (department) and will take whatever steps are necessary to make sure there is none.”

Newspaper reports suggested officers handling traffic stops were improperly labeling Latinos as white — almost one out of every three — to avoid charges of racial profiling.

Legislation has been introduced that would allow counties to withdraw from the ICE Secure Communities program and prevent state money from being used to deport noncriminal immigrants.