Update on Evanston Sanctuary City

Update on Evanston Sanctuary City. Resolution postponed. Daily Northwestern:

Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) presented an alternative resolution at the meeting that calls on only the federal government to reform its immigration policy, instead of Evanston. Baptiste said it's not the local government's responsibility to deal with the issue.

And an email from an Evanston reader who was there: [The resolution I posted is just one version. There are two other versions. Copies were not available.]

Alderman Jean-Baptiste submitted the 2nd, which is very vague about Evanston inaction, and just addresses the issue nationally. Alderman Moran developed a third version that combined the two.

There was some excellent testimony against the concept of the resolution that really caught the members' ear. Ald. Holman is very concerned about taking illegal action. Jean-Baptiste thinks it will draw unwanted attention to the city by ICE/INS--he would prefer to maintain the status quo and stay under the radar.

Ms. Tredway from the NAACP seemed to embody the A-A response that this was setting up another protected class in Evanston, to the detriment of those already here (!). Another speaker advocated taking this to a referendum before the Council presumed to speak for all Evanston residents, and consider the national sovereignty issues as well as the human rights ones.

The packed chamber sent a message--people are watching. Don't embarrass yourself! They will consider the resolution again at their March 3 meeting. Alderman Berstein stated that this would not get to the Council until April at the earliest.