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Law enforcement and immigration advocates gathered Thursday at Bloomington Public Library [BPL] to address concerns about misinformation and rapid policy changes to federal immigration law.
Among the speakers was Bloomington Police Sgt. Kiel Nowers, who leads the department's community engagement unit. Nowers shared a joint statement from police and city officials affirming Bloomington's commitment to fostering a safe community for everyone.
In his remarks, Nowers sought to reassure undocumented immigrants it is safe to report crimes, conduct court business and attend church and school.
“Especially the part about people not being afraid to come forward when they’re victims of a crime and from the undocumented community,” he said in an interview with WGLT.
Naturalized citizens are less likely to experience victimization and more likely to report crimes to police, despite state and federal protections. Undocumented immigrants who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or hate crimes may be eligible for a U-Visa.
The Immigration Project — the Normal-based nonprofit that helped organize Thursday’s panel discussion with YWCA McLean County and Not in Our Town — has at times coordinated with Bloomington police to assist victims with applying for citizenship through a U-Visa pathway. But the department’s pledge explicitly excludes asking about immigration status, so it’s hard to track whether that message is getting out.
“That’s why we do community outreach,” Nowers said. “This is literally why this unit exists — the community engagement unit — to try to get to the people we haven’t been getting messages to.”
![Card placed on a table behind a gathering of people with phone numbers listed to ICIRR [Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/27b2937/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1200x1675+0+0/resize/840x1172!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9b%2Fc4%2Fb8f882624158aa99cb65f95c18be%2Fimmigation-4-warnecke.jpg)
The Illinois TRUST Act prevents local law enforcement from assisting with federal deportations. The Town of Normal passed an additional welcoming ordinance in 2018 prohibiting police and town officials from asking about immigration status. Bloomington's joint statement, developed by police Chief Jamal Simington and City Manager Jeff Jurgens, is not legally binding, but Nowers says every sworn officer agrees to follow its principles.
“Every officer at the Bloomington Police Department, the Normal Police Department and the [McLean County] Sheriff’s Department has to comply with the Illinois TRUST Act,” he said. “Whether we have a separate ordinance or not, sometimes it’s symbolic. And sometimes symbols matter.”
Shifts in U.S. immigration policy
Immigration Project Executive Director Charlotte Alvarez presented an update on policy shifts since President Donald Trump took office in January. Firings of federal immigration judges, she said, has worked against the administration's goal of ramping up deportations. While more people have been flagged for deportation, the number of undocumented immigrants leaving the county has remained static or slowed down by a bogged-down administrative court process.
The flurry of executive actions and policy changes from President Trump has also made for a more confusing process and narrowing of the possible pathways to citizenship.
“What he seems to be doing is cobbling together some existing policies and making a big splash about them, and then adding in new requirements without any clear directive on how that would actually be accomplished or implemented, to create a sense of fear and confusion,” said Alvarez regarding Section 7 of Trump’s Executive Order entitled Protecting the American People Against Invasion.
Under another executive order, the Department of Homeland Security was directed to ensure that all aliens over the age of 14 comply with their duty to register with the government. According to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services Alien Registration Requirement, failure to comply may result in criminal and civil penalties.
Alvarez said the Immigration Policy Tracking Project has tracked 183 policy actions on immigration since January 20, when Trump returned to office.
Nowers said federal immigration officials have not been seen in McLean County, but Javier Sotelo, one of approximately 35 attendees at the discussion, said misinformation is keeping some of his classmates at Heartland Community College from coming to class.
“My peers came to the United States to add and not subtract from it,” he told WGLT in Spanish. “But some are avoiding the classroom out of fear of being detained by immigration authorities.”
Sotelo wants to see similar information sessions like the event at BPL on Heartland's campus so students can have resources more easily. The Immigration Project publishes “Know Your Rights” resources in English, French and Spanish on their website.
State Rep. Sharon Chung, D-Bloomington, opened the panel with a pledge to continue supporting immigrant rights.
