* ILGOP…
The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association held a press conference today with several legislators where they revealed a new policy by the Illinois Department of Corrections ordered by Governor Pritzker. The policy change prohibits local authorities from communicating with ICE officials when they release felons who are undocumented. ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response:
“Governor Pritzker has decided to prioritize the release of violent criminals onto the streets over the safety of our communities and families. His decision is appalling. This is the policy implication behind the Governor’s apparent belief that illegal immigrants who commit felonies should not be deported from this country. That is a misguided and radical belief espoused by presidential wannabes like Bernie Sanders.
Should any of these illegal immigrants and convicted felons commit another violent crime upon release, Governor Pritzker must explain why he put their freedom over the safety of the victims and all Illinoisans.”
* Background…
In 2017, then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed into law the Trust Act, which prohibits state and local police in Illinois from arresting or detaining a person solely because of their immigration status, or based on a federal immigration detainer. Under the law, authorities are able to hold someone if a judge has issued a warrant.
* The main critic of the new policy is this sheriff…
“I’m here to sound the alarm that a recent policy change by the Illinois Department of Corrections is making our communities and neighborhoods less safe,” Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said Tuesday at a Capitol news conference with House and Senate Republicans.
Downey said his department contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to coordinate the pickup, transfer and detainment of people released from state prison but still subject to federal detainers due to immigration status.
Prior to the change, IDOC would transfer them to the Pontiac Correctional Center, where the Kankakee County Sherriff’s Department would pick them up an hold them at the Jerome Combs Detention Center in Kankakee County until their immigration case is reviewed and adjudicated.
But because of the policy change, which sheriffs said they learned of indirectly on Jan. 30, all such transfers at the request of ICE are no longer allowed, Downey said.
* From 2018…
Two county jails in Illinois set a record for receiving $959,000 in federal revenue.
Kankakee County’s jails in May broke its previous 2013 record when it received $957,000 in outside inmate bed rental money, the Daily Journal reported.
Nearly all of the money comes from federal agencies. Kankakee County gets $80 daily for each inmate from the feds
* Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights…
ICIRR supports the new IDOC policy and any further efforts by Governor Pritzker’s administration to distance state and local governments in Illinois from federal immigration enforcement. IDOC and other law enforcement agencies are barred by the Illinois TRUST Act (which ICIRR led the campaign to pass) from holding any individual solely based on a warrant or detainer issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
To be clear, individuals are being released because they have done their time. Sheriffs Downey and Childress are claiming that: 1) state law should be violated, and 2 ) the time served that the criminal justice system deems appropriate is insufficient and there should be different standards depending on a person’s place of birth. It is highly problematic that these law enforcement agents don’t believe in actual enforcement of the law.
We are pleased that IDOC is complying with the TRUST Act, and urge all other law enforcement departments throughout the state to follow suit. We will continue to work with Governor Pritzker to ensure that our state is welcoming for all.
* PASO…
West Suburban Action Project applauds Governor Pritzker’s compliance with the TRUST Act, a law signed by former Governor Rauner that PASO advocated for and passed in 2017. Limiting local law enforcement collaboration with immigration agencies improves the safety and security of all Illinois residents. All law enforcement agencies are bound by and should comply with the TRUST Act that prohibits unlawful arrests. Local law enforcement may not comply with requests from immigration authorities to hold immigrants, unless immigration agencies comply with the Constitution and present lawful criminal warrants. Immigration enforcement agencies are appropriated billions of dollars each year and Illinois agencies should not bear the cost of enforcing federal immigration laws. Illinois residents released by the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) have served their sentences and should be able to reintegrate into their families and society to live full and dignified laws irrespective of immigration status. Communities of color should not be further penalized with immigration enforcement. PASO and our partner organizations will continue to work closely with the Governor to ensure that Illinois is the most welcoming state in the country.
* National Immigrant Justice Center…
NIJC applauds Governor J.B. Pritzker for recognizing that we are all safer when our leaders embrace policies that protect and support community wholeness and family unity. Ending cooperation between the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in accordance with the Illinois TRUST Act, a law that NIJC advocated for when it was passed in 2017. Imposing the second punishment of deportation and exile on those who have already made their way through the criminal legal system disrupts family units and destabilizes communities, leaving us all less secure. We are pleased that our state is upholding the rule of law, and will continue to work to ensure Illinois is a welcoming state, free of the reckless and racially charged immigration enforcement practices that terrorize our communities.
Also, if you click here you can search for state inmates and get a projected discharge date. As the governor’s office notes, ICE could just use that search.
*** UPDATE *** Press release…
The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus released the following statement in response to the Republican attempts to misrepresent legislation preventing the extrajudicial detention of immigrants:
“While we have made tremendous progress to protect the civil rights of all Illinois residents, the Republican Party is falsely claiming that individuals that are a danger to the public are being released back into communities. This is a bigoted lie and they should be ashamed of themselves. Ultimately this comes down to the fact that local police departments are no longer able to benefit from their lucrative contracts with ICE to oppress immigrants. The Trust Act ensures that people are treated fairly in our criminal justice system, so that once they serve their time, they are released just like everyone else. That’s it.
“Every time people of color have achieved a step toward equity under the law, there are those who actively seek to undermine that progress through fearmongering and grossly distorting the truth. This sort of rhetoric has no place in Illinois and it must called out for what it is, inflaming racial tensions for the sake of political gain and preservation.
“We will continue to stand with those on the front line doing the work to protect our communities and do the work in the Legislature to advance laws that reflect our values of equality and justice for all.”
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* Press release…
Today the Democratic Party of Illinois warned Illinois voters about a deceptive mailer being distributed by the Republican Party claiming to be Census questionnaires. State party leaders are urging people to beware of these fake Census mailers that serve to track voters, obtain private information and suppress Census participation.
An accurate Census count is critical for Illinois and fair representation in Congress of all our diverse communities. The mailer recently distributed by the GOP is not an official Census document and uses the Census as a tool for soliciting donations. In fact, this is a paid campaign mailer from the national Republican Party.
“Using the Census a guise to engage voters is extremely concerning and in reality will either scare people away from participating in a real Census questionnaire or collect data on voters the GOP wants to exclude from the November election,” Michael Madigan, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois, said. “These are shady tactics from the GOP, and we encourage voters to keep an eye out for this phony Census mailer.”
“Communities in the Second Congressional District have a lot at stake in the upcoming Census count and we can bet the GOP would like to scare or intimidate them from participating in this critical count,” Democratic State Central Committee member Al Riley said. “We are asking voters to be on the lookout for questionable mailers and alert the state party if you feel you’ve received anything deceptive.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a real Census questionnaire will never ask for:
* A full Social Security number
* Bank or credit card numbers
* Donations or money of any kind
Other tips for spotting a fake Census document include:
* Be sure to check any web addresses for a .gov extension and an https prefix. The site you use should have both of these things and the official U.S. Census Bureau website is https://www.census.gov.
* Any mail you receive should have a return address of Jeffersonville, Indiana – if it doesn’t, it’s not from the Census Bureau.
* If someone comes to your house, they should have a valid U.S. Census ID badge. If they don’t, they aren’t from the Census Bureau.
More information about spotting scam Census questionnaires can be found here. If you think a communication you received is a Census scam, please inform the Census Bureau at 800-354-7271 for English or 800-833-5625 for Spanish. When in doubt, you can also reach the Democratic Party of Illinois at 312-578-1554.
* This may be an overreaction, particularly with all the stuff that Madigan has pulled over the years. Click the pic for a larger image…
Thoughts?
*** UPDATE *** Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill) told me he filed a bill earlier this month after he received a complaint from a constituent about the above mailer…
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person commits a false personation if he or she knowingly and falsely represents himself or herself to be a census worker employed by the federal or State government, or their regional intermediary, grantee, subgrantee, or temporary volunteer for the purpose of effectuating identity theft or in furtherance of the commission of a felony. Provides that a violation of false personation of a census worker is a Class 4 felony. Clarifies that the offense applies to both false personation accomplished in person or by any means of communication. Effective immediately.
…Adding… With a hat tip to a commenter…
A mailer circulating in Montana labeled “2019 congressional district census” notifies voters “you have been selected to represent voters in Bozeman, Montana,” with an enclosed letter that reads, “President Trump has requested that a Census of every Congressional district be conducted immediately.”
But the form, one of many sent to residents in at least four counties across the state, is not for the official U.S. census.
It is instead a survey, commissioned by the Republican Party, as written at the top of the form, to solicit donations for President Trump’s re-election campaign. […]
The so-called “imitation census” is putting state officials on edge about potentially confusing Montana’s more than 711,000 registered voters and by possibly dampening participation in the actual census in 2020, which comes after a tumultuous year for the U.S. Census Bureau.
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* AP…
Two Illinois sheriffs said Tuesday that some violent felons who had faced deportation are instead being released into local communities after their prison terms end as a result of a policy change by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration.
Sheriffs Mike Downey of Kankakee County and Tony Childress of Livingston County told reporters at the state Capitol that they were not given a reason for the policy switch, which they called reckless.
They said Corrections officials announced they were canceling a process under which criminals living in the country illegally were transferred to Pontiac Correctional Center. That’s where Kankakee County sheriff’s deputies picked them up and detained them under contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The sheriffs said they don’t have a number of how many inmates who would have faced deportation were released. Of 223 immigrants transferred from Pontiac to ICE detention in 2019, Downey said 11 were convicted of murder or attempted murder, 37 of predatory criminal sexual assault or abuse, including crimes involving children, and 33 were convicted of a crime involving a weapon.
So, they’re being released like everyone else, except they’re now avoiding deportation.
* As you might expect, the reaction has been thunderous…
State Representative Allen Skillicorn (R-Crystal Lake) says Illinois communities are unnecessarily at risk thanks to radical policies at the Illinois Department of Corrections that allows convicted felons to be released.
In 2019, there were 223 immigrants who were transferred to the Jerome Combs Detention Center in Kankakee. These individuals had all served time at an IDOC facility and all were felons. They were transferred to the Jerome Combs Detention Center at the request of ICE. Then, beginning in 2020, the notifications for these transfers stopped.
“What is essentially happening here is the Illinois Department of Corrections is releasing people directly into the community and ignoring ICE transfer requests,” Skillicorn said. “These are all felons and many of them are very dangerous people. Our communities are at risk because our own state government refuses to follow federal law. People’s lives are at stake so that Governor JB Pritzker can smile at the TV cameras and talk about how ‘compassionate’ he is. Gov. Pritzker is putting Illinois families at risk and it is wrong.”
Skillicorn said there is no warning about when the prison releases are taking place.
“There is no warning or a heads up to local enforcement about these releases; they are simply just released into the communities where they have been serving time,” Skillicorn said. “People in Illinois communities are at risk and they do not even know it.”
The Kankakee County Sheriff Office reviewed the transfers completed in 2019 and found that the individuals requested by ICE and transferred to the Kankakee correctional facility had been convicted of committing the following crimes in Illinois:
· 36 individuals were found guilty of sexual offenses against minors, including crimes against individuals as young as 5 years old;
· 11 individuals were found guilty of murder, attempted murder or intent to kill or injure;
· 19 individuals were found guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault;
· 33 individuals were found guilty of a criminal offense involving a weapon;
· 50 individuals were found guilty of drug offenses involving a substance other than cannabis;
· 55 individuals were found guilty of felony-level traffic offenses including aggravated DUI, having a fourth DUI or a DUI resulting in death.
“I am calling on the Governor and the Illinois Department of Corrections to end this dangerous policy and to work with local enforcement officials,” Skillicorn said. “Dangerous criminals whether they are citizens or illegal immigrants need to be behind bars – not roaming the streets. It is time to put the safety of our citizens and our communities first.”
* More…
State Representative Lindsay Parkhurst (R – Kankakee) issued the following statement in response to a change in Illinois Department of Corrections policy regarding undocumented convicted felons.
“Overnight – and without fanfare – there was a radical policy shift allowing undocumented convicted felons with active detainer warrants to be released from prison directly into the community without notification. Sheriff Mike Downey brought this to my attention and I am appalled there are no answers why. I want to be clear; this is not a policy for simple status offenses. This is not a policy for those deserving amnesty. These are serious dangerous criminal offenders – rapists, murderers, child molesters, and sexual predators. Last year, 223 undocumented convicted felons with active detainer warrants were safely transferred upon release from Illinois prisons. Under this radical new policy, these convicted felons with active detainer warrants are now simply released onto the streets and into our neighborhoods without notice.
I urge a statewide review of this policy and ask the governor to reverse this policy. The policy is dangerous to our children, our elderly, and all residents of Illinois.”
*** UPDATE *** Jordan Abudayyeh at the governor’s office…
“As Donald Trump continues to advance policies that tear apart families and terrorize children, the Pritzker administration is committed to using every tool at our disposal to protect immigrant families in Illinois. The governor’s office is working closely with the Department of Corrections to review current policies, build on the progress made under the bipartisan Illinois Trust Act that was signed into law in 2017, and ensure the protection of immigrant families and all Illinois communities. As this work moves forward, the Department of Corrections will pause the majority of its interactions with ICE. The governor has made it abundantly clear that Illinois will be a firewall against the president’s attacks on immigrant communities.”
Background:
Under the bipartisan Trust Act, the Illinois Department of Corrections is prohibited from detaining an individual solely on the basis of an immigration detainer or non-judicial immigration warrant.
The Trust Act does not impact the length of an individual’s lawful sentence. Those who are incarcerated serve their sentence and then are released.
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Coronavirus roundup
Tuesday, Feb 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Friday…
California, Nebraska and Illinois are the only U.S. states that can currently test for coronavirus, the Association of Public Health Laboratories told Reuters. The CDC last week said some of the testing kits sent to U.S. states and at least 30 countries produced “inconclusive” results due to a flawed component, and the CDC planned to send replacement materials to make the kits work. The CDC has increased testing capacity until new testing kits become available, said Scott Becker, the executive director of APHL, which represents public health laboratories in the United States.
* WaPo today…
Experts are increasingly concerned that the small number of U.S. cases thus far may be a reflection of limited testing, not of the virus’ spread. While South Korea has run more than 35,000 coronavirus tests, the U.S. has tested only 426 people for the virus, not including people who returned on evacuation flights.
* Yesterday…
“For the moment, we are not witnessing the uncontained global spread of this virus and we are not witnessing large-scale severe disease or deaths,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general. “Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely it has.”
* Today…
[U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar] said the U.S. currently has a stockpile of 30 million surgical masks, but HHS estimates suggest the country needs 300 million masks.
Oy. Also…
Up to 95 percent of surgical masks are made outside the continental United States, in places like China and Mexico, according to a 2014 briefing released by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As the outbreak has grown, Chinese authorities have increased manufacturing lines domestically, slashed their exports and put their own orders first. As China consumes more of the protective gear it is producing, the rest of the world is fighting over what is left.
U.S. health officials and industry executives are planning how to supply enough masks to critical personnel. That plan relies on a complicated supply chain already strained by U.S.-China trade tensions and in which even the most basic information is closely held. Proprietary information makes it difficult for the health-care industry — and the U.S. government — to know how much inventory manufacturers have at any given time.
* More from today…
The CDC outlined what schools and businesses will likely need to do if the COVID-19 virus becomes an epidemic outbreak in the U.S. Schools should consider dividing students into smaller groups or close and use “internet-based tele-schooling,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a conference call. “For adults, businesses can replace in-person meetings with video or telephone conferences and increase teleworking options,” Messonnier said. She said local communities and cities may need to “modify, postpone or cancel mass gatherings.” Hospitals may need to triage patients differently, add more tele-health services and delay elective surgery, she said. “We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare for the expectation that this is going to be bad,” she said.
Needless to say, you can’t just snap your fingers and immediately set up “internet-based tele-schooling.”
* People at the top need to start talking to each other…
The Trump administration is requesting $1.25 billion in new funding and wants to transfer $535 million more from an Ebola preparedness account that’s been a top priority of Democrats. It anticipates shifting money from other HHS accounts and other agencies to complete the $2.5 billion response plan.
Democrats said Trump’s attempt to tap existing Ebola prevention funding was dead on arrival.
* The Atlantic…
The Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch is exacting in his diction, even for an epidemiologist. Twice in our conversation he started to say something, then paused and said, “Actually, let me start again.” So it’s striking when one of the points he wanted to get exactly right was this: “I think the likely outcome is that it will ultimately not be containable.” […]
Lipsitch predicts that, within the coming year, some 40 to 70 percent of people around the world will be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. But, he clarifies emphatically, this does not mean that all will have severe illnesses. “It’s likely that many will have mild disease, or may be asymptomatic,” he said. As with influenza, which is often life-threatening to people with chronic health conditions and of older age, most cases pass without medical care. (Overall, around 14 percent of people with influenza have no symptoms.)
Lipsitch is far from alone in his belief that this virus will continue to spread widely. The emerging consensus among epidemiologists is that the most likely outcome of this outbreak is a new seasonal disease—a fifth “endemic” coronavirus. With the other four, people are not known to develop long-lasting immunity. If this one follows suit, and if the disease continues to be as severe as it is now, “cold and flu season” could become “cold and flu and COVID-19 season.”
…Adding… Press release…
U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today called on the Trump Administration to do more to address the coronavirus epidemic following the President’s minimal and long overdue coronavirus funding request. In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin called out President Trump’s continued years-long efforts to cut funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—two federal health agencies that our nation relies upon to respond and prepare for public health challenges. In his fiscal Year 2021 proposed budget, President Trump advocated for cutting the CDC’s budget by nine percent and the NIH’s budget by seven percent.
“When you look at the efforts that are being made here in the United States and around the world, we can and should do more. I support [Senator Schumer’s] request for a dramatic increase in funding for this purpose now before it spreads across the United States,” Durbin said.
* Related…
* Man walked through Joliet Walmart with sign on back that said, ‘Caution I have the Coronavirus,’ then sprayed merchandise with Lysol, police say
* Chicago Chinatown Restaurant Crawl Takes Place in Response to Coronavirus Fears
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Underwood is basically on her own
Tuesday, Feb 25, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Tribune…
Freshman Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood said Monday that she thinks the influence of the party’s presidential contenders on her chances for reelection in the traditionally Republican 14th Congressional District would be “neutral at best or really difficult at worst.”
Appearing before about 150 people at the City Club of Chicago, Underwood was asked if she shared concerns among some Democratic moderates that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders could hurt down-ballot Democrats who won in 2018 or are in swing districts, should he win the nomination.
“Some people are neutral and some people are not and no one in my opinion that’s running on the Democratic ticket is helpful to me in my race,” Underwood replied, drawing murmurs from the crowd.
Underwood defeated three-term GOP Rep. Randy Hultgren in 2018 in an exurban district that has long backed conservative Republicans. She noted that she defeated Hultgren by 5 percentage points while J.B. Pritzker lost to Bruce Rauner in the district by 8 percentage points — though Pritzker defeated Rauner statewide by 16 percentage points.
* Politico…
Political consultant Jim Terman, who posed the question, told Playbook that Underwood’s answer “caught folks by surprise…but when you think about it, it made sense.” […]
Underwood’s response explains the reality of being a Democrat in a swing district, says senior adviser Ronnie Cho. “Her re-election has more to do with her than anybody else. She knows her re-election is contingent on her campaign, policies and record,” Cho told Playbook.
And if there’s any question about Underwood’s dedication to Democratic infrastructure, Cho points to the political action committee Underwood just started to help down-ballot candidates. Farm Team PAC is focused on electing Democratic candidates within IL-14.
Only two statewide Democratic candidates won Underwood’s district in 2018: Secretary of State Jesse White (who won 14 of 16 districts) and Comptroller Susana Mendoza (who won all but four districts). No statewide Dems won the district in the 2016 and 2012 presidential cycles, and only White won it in 2014.
By the way, as I told subscribers yesterday, Underwood’s Farm Team PAC had just $992.69 in the bank at the end of 2019 and hasn’t reported any contributions since then. It was created about 13 months ago.
…Adding… With thanks to a commenter, here’s a story about an Indivisible Evanston gathering for Underwood last week...
Underwood also emphasized her role as a bipartisan congresswoman who can appeal to a variety of voters. She said many Trump supporters voted for her in 2018, and hopes to continue that trend. […]
Underwood stressed to Evanston residents that they might have to speak cautiously when helping her campaign in the district. She said they should speak on shared values as opposed to a “lack of empathy for our neighbors.”
Additionally, Underwood instructed those helping the campaign to maintain “awareness and discipline” when knocking on the doors of District 14 voters, who are generally not as liberal as many Evanston residents.
“Speaker Pelosi has a lot of sayings, but one of the things that she always tells us is that the things you can say in San Francisco you can’t say Michigan, but what you can say in Michigan, you can say San Francisco; you’re San Francisco, I’m Michigan,” Underwood said.
She also said potential GOP opponent Jim Oberweis has “very well-established bigoted and racist views.”
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