Chicago Suburb of Waukegan Votes to Keep Alleged "Racist" Police Program

In a previous news story, the Chicago suburb of Waukegan was in an uproar over an alleged racist police program.

On Monday, protesting and voting took place. The city officials' decisions would rock the city, especially the Latino and Hispanic community which makes up 53 percent of Waukegan's some 82,000 residents.

The city officials voted to not reconsider a proposal that would lead Waukegan police to enforce federal immigration laws. The proposal had protesting on both sides.

The vote by the Waukegan City Council came Monday night. The vote was 8 against 2, well over enough to keep the program intact. The Monday night vote could let police apply for the special program through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as soon as Tuesday morning.

The training would indeed take some time for Waukegan officers to complete. Once graduating from the program, officers could legally process and detain illegal immigrants they came across while fulfilling their normal police duties. This way the program would take pressure off federal immigration agents.

With such a controversial issue, protesters took over the steps of Waukegan City Hall. Tickets to sit in on the council meeting were in high demand. Police were given 400 tickets to distribute even though the council chambers only held around 200 people. Most of the crowd stood outside the doors and outside on the lawn hoping to get a seat inside or continue their protest while deliberations went on.

Those who opposed the city's idea of enforcing the federal immigration program held prayer vigils and rallied down nearby streets. In general, they believe the program is racist and will lead to the harassment of immigrants. They wanted the program to be reconsidered because they believed police officers would overstep their boundries.

"It's truly an outrage. The city and residents know it will lead to racial profiling and attacks on immigrants. This is America. Everyone should be welcome here. No one lives here to be harassed by the police," said Mexican immigrant and activist Carlos Mehina.