The East Chicago Common Council declined at its meeting last Wednesday to consider a resolution that would have called for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to be blocked from city property.
The symbolic item, proposed by Councilman Robert Garcia, D-5th, closely mirrors a resolution passed earlier this month by the city council of neighboring Hammond.
On Oct. 14, the Hammond Common Council unanimously approved the resolution as a show of support for the city administration, which had directed a group of ICE agents not to use the Hammond Police Department's parking lot as a staging area the previous week; Like Hammond's resolution, Garcia's proposal would not be a binding directive to city staff but a recommendation.
"They're snatching people off the streets," Garcia said. "It's pretty plain English in this resolution, just asking them not to use city property."
Though some council members voiced sympathy for Garcia's goals, the resolution received a mostly chilly reception from the rest of the dais. The councilman's colleagues complained that they had not been given sufficient notice of Garcia's plan to introduce the item and voiced concerns over possible repercussions.
Councilman Kenneth Monroe, D-at large, was the only other vote in favor of Garcia's motion to amend the meeting's agenda. Councilman Lenny Franciski, D-2nd, was absent.
On federal immigration enforcement, Democrat-dominated and predominantly Hispanic East Chicago has long been at odds with the state of Indiana.
