The county board passed an ordinance banning federal agents from using Lake County-owned property for certain immigration enforcement operations, saying we are “in times of fascism.”
The Lake County Board passed the resolution during its Tuesday evening meeting.
The ordinance says the unauthorized use of Lake County Government’s property to facilitate immigration enforcement actions “interferes” with the county.
The directive says that no county-owned parking lot, vacant lot or garage should be used as a staging area, processing location or operations base for civil immigration enforcement.
A “staging area” refers to an area that is used to assemble, mobilize and deploy vehicles, equipment or personnel for the purpose of carrying out immigration enforcement operations.
Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart said she got the idea for the ordinance after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a similar order last week.
The Lake County ordinance was enacted following weeks of intensified immigration enforcement by ICE and Border Patrol in eastern Lake County, particularly North Chicago and Waukegan.
Hart referenced the arrest of 23-year-old Dariana Fajardo, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, who was forcefully detained by Border Patrol agents outside of the Waukegan City Hall, leading to the Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham de-escalating the situation early last week.
Lake County Board Member Esiah Campos was also at the scene and recorded video of the arrest. Fajardo was released hours after her arrest.
Hart said the incident was “pretty terrifying” and she thanked Campos for being there and recording it.
The new ordinance orders county departments to identify county locations that either have been used or are likely to be used in the future by federal immigration agents.
The county departments will be posting “clear signage” stating, “This property is owned and controlled by Lake County Government. It may not be used for civil immigration enforcement as a: Staging Area, Processing Location, or Operations Base.”
The county departments were also directed to ensure that physical barriers, such as locked gates, are used to limit access to county-owned and controlled parking lots, vacant lots or garages when possible.
Any county employee who becomes aware of the attempt or actual use of county-owned property for the purposes of civil immigration enforcement is directed to immediately report it to their supervisor, according to the ordinance.
Lake County Board Member Gina Roberts said the federal government does not see itself as “unauthorized” and they feel they can do “anything they want” on people’s property in the United States.
“We are in times of fascism and we need to say it out loud. We need to stand up with our U.S. citizens in this county and we need to be the leaders. I will stand with our community,” Roberts said.
Roberts also said that “we are in uncharted times” and the president “wants us to become violent so we can have martial Law and we’ll never have another election.”
The ordinance, which takes effect immediately, does not prohibit immigration agents from carrying out their duties on county-owned property.