Grundy County Board holds firm that it will continue illegal immigration law enforcement

The Grundy County Board reaffirmed its stance from a 2020 referendum where voters agreed the county should continue to assist federal authorities engaged in immigration-related enforcement activities.

County Board Chairman Chris Balkema said 15 of the 17 Grundy County townships voted that the county should assist federal authorities in 2020, and 10 out of the 10 represented at a meeting Nov. 7 agreed unanimously that this should not change.

The question during Tuesday’s meeting, according to Balkema, was whether the county should remain steadfast in not accepting any money if the state of Illinois is offering any grant funding for taking in asylum seekers.

Co-Chairman Caleb Counterman said the wording should be that the county shouldn’t seek funding, not that it won’t accept funding.

“I don’t think we should seek after funding in order to encourage this from taking place, but if there are expectations, or if we as a county are already dealing with this and the state were to come back and offer to help those with a problem that’s already existing, we need to keep that possibility of accepting funds to help with that,” Counterman said. “That way, we’re not just bearing the responsibility without state help based off its other failure in enforcing federal guidelines.”

Board member Joe Schiavone said he agrees that the county shouldn’t seek funding opportunities, but it also shouldn’t accept them.

“The minute we open that door, we’re condemning ourselves to an influx that we won’t be able to control,” Schiavone said.

Counterman pointed out that if there are already asylum seekers in the county, the taxpayers are already shouldering a burden to help care for them. If immigrants lacking permanent legal status already are in Grundy County, Counterman asks, should the county decline the state’s offer for help?

Counterman said this is a federal issue and a state issue because they aren’t following what is already on the books, so the county could be increasing its own burden with its current stance.

“We got the Grundy County bus system,” Schiavone said. “We just send them to Chicago.”

Schiavone said even considering taking money if it’s offered is a terrible idea and that the state will take a mile if given an inch.

Another board member, Joshua Harris, said people living in the country without legal permission are breaking the law.

“Considering we got rid of cash bail, I’m assuming our jails are a little bit more emptied,” Harris said. “Can we just put them there?”

Board Member Jerald White clarified that Grundy County isn’t asking for extra funding to help asylum seekers like other counties, and the conversation should center around how the county gets the resources to handle an influx of immigrants living here without legal permission if it has to. He said he believes, like Counterman, that if asylum seekers get forced on the county and the county gets pushed into a corner, it won’t have the resources to handle it.

“We’re going to have to have some money,” White said. “There’s no way we can push them all away. It’s not going to happen. If we’re pushed into a corner, again, we’re not asking for it. We don’t want it, and that’s clear. We don’t want that here because we’ve already seen what they did in the sanctuary cities and now they’re stuck.”

Balkema said times have changed since the referendum was sent to voters.

“Now the tables have turned at a federal level, and somewhat the state level, to we’re having to react,” Balkema said.

Board member Drew Muffler said Grundy County has not been approached directly for grant funding to aid asylum seekers, but there’s been a blanket offer from the state searching for volunteers.

State’s Attorney Russ Baker said he feels it’s premature to get bogged down by conversation of whether or not Grundy County is asking for money or taking money.

“If you declare ourselves a non-sanctuary county, we’re basically saying we want the federal immigration laws enforced, and we’ll assist that based on our ballot initiative and leave the money incentives where they’re at right now,” Baker said. “They’re just asking for volunteers and you’re saying we’re not one of them, to put it simply.”

Balkema said Morris Mayor Chris Brown reported last week that there are no known immigrants without legal permission to live in the country being housed anywhere in Morris, and the board doesn’t know of any in Grundy County.

The Grundy County Board passed a motion to have Baker draft a statement that would declare Grundy County a non-sanctuary county, and ensure that the funding mechanisms currently used to provide support for the homeless and non-profits are codified and continue to do so without any spirit of encouraging illegal immigration processes to occur in Grundy County.