Chicago Politicians Double Down on Dangerous ‘Sanctuary City’ Policies

Screenshot

Chicago politicians and advocates of mass immigration are pushing “sanctuary city” policies that allow criminal aliens to run rampant and resulted in the high-profile death of one city resident in 2011, according to Progress Illinois.

Many want to shield illegal aliens from immigration authorities. Illegals with pending criminal cases should not have their information given to U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) if they’re stopped again by police, says one advocate.

“Now mind you, they’re already being charged and prosecuted for an offense. Unfortunately under the city law, if that person is stopped at a traffic stop again, the information for that individual can be turned over to ICE, which does not seem like a reasonable exception or carveout in such cases,” said Fred Tsao of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies’ map of “sanctuary” jurisdictions, Chicago will not honor an ICE detainer unless the illegal: “Has an outstanding criminal warrant; Convicted of a felony; Is a defendant in a criminal case where a judgment has not been entered and a felony charge is pending; or Identified as known gang member.” In other words, Tsao wants to help illegals with pending felony cases escape detention and expand Chicago’s sanctuary city policies.

In at least one case, Chicago authorities even refused to notify ICE after they took a convicted felon and illegal alien into custody after he allegedly struck and dragged William “Denny” McCann in June 2011. Saul Chavez slammed into McCann in a horrific attempted hit-and-run and DUI:

It happened June 8 on Kedzie Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood. McCann was walking across Kedzie when he was hit by a car allegedly driven by Saul Chavez, 36, already convicted of one DUI.

“I heard the impact, saw this man go up into the sky and land on the windshield,” witness Alberto Aceves, 39, told the Tribune shortly after the crash. “I thought, OK, he hit him, but the driver is going to stop. He might be all right.”

But the driver didn’t stop. Instead, the driver stepped on the gas. The tires rolled over McCann, who had fallen to the ground, and then the underbelly of the car caught him and dragged his body north on Kedzie.

“I pull up to the passenger side screaming at him,” Aceves recalled. “Stop! The guy’s under your car.”

An off-duty police officer joined in the chase after he spotted a pair of sandals in the street and looked up to see McCann’s body being dragged. The car finally stopped, with McCann still lodged underneath, and Chavez allegedly tried to run. Aceves and the officer — gun in hand — chased after Chavez and caught him.

Brian McCann, his brother, fought for years to get justice for his brother: Chavez made bail two months later and promptly fled the city after authorities ignored an ICE detainer. According to McCann’s contacts in the FBI, Chavez is a free man and working in Mexico. Unless Congress takes action, McCann told senators, “these sanctuary jurisdictions are going to get away with literally murder.”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.