Breanna Grow / WGLT
Council members voted 5-4 at Tuesday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting to direct staff to draft an ordinance to bring to the council for a future vote.
Council member Jenn Carrillo submitted the latest proposal, written in conjunction with fellow alderman Jeff Crabill.
In 2017, before winning the Ward 6 seat, Carrillo was one of the lead organizers behind the Keep Families Together Coalition aimed at passing Welcoming Cities ordinances in Bloomington and Normal.
Carrillo said the past and current iterations of the proposal in Bloomington have the same goal: “protect our undocumented residents by establishing a very clear separation between ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and local law enforcement.”
Charlie Schlenker / WGLT
Bloomington aldermen are asking to halt scheduled discussion of a Welcoming City ordinance, clouding the prospects for future public consideration.
A coalition of advocacy groups has asked for an ordinance limiting cooperation between Bloomington Police and federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. They marched on City Hall last May, and in December more than 350 people turned out to a meeting to offer public comment at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.
An email from five aldermen to Interim City Manager Steve Rasmussen indicates a majority of the council have asked Rasmussen to pull the issue from the Feb. 12 meeting agenda. Council members Joni Painter, Mboka Mwilambwe, David Sage, Kim Bray, and Karen Schmidt said in the message the council gave the public a fair hearing in December when it extended public comment to 60 minutes to accommodate everyone.