Pressure is mounting against a proposal to open a for-profit immigrant detention center
in Joliet. Activists submitted 4,000 petitions against the facility to the Joliet City Council Thursday, just one day after four Illinois congressional delegates sent a letter asking the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Janet Napolitano, to reject the prison’s proposal.
“Bringing
an immigrant detention center to Joliet would mean overwhelming fear
for this city’s immigrant community,” said Jesse Hoyt, an organizer with
the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). “The pressure that’s on the city and the county to do something to stop this is getting much more intense.”
Joliet City Manager Tom Thanas met with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials
last week in Washington, D.C. to discuss a possible immigrant detention
center in the Will County city.
The Crete Village Board unanimously voted Monday night not to go
forward with a planned federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) detention center in their village boundaries – meaning ICE will
likely approach another small town near Chicago. Read more »
The Illinois Senate this afternoon narrowly passed a bill 31-27 to raise the cigarette tax a dollar a pack – sending it to Gov. Pat Quinn who will enthusiastically sign the measure. The bill impacts smokers, who now must pay $1.98 in taxes per pack.
It is also intended to greatly impact state Medicaid payments – the levy is supposed to generate $700 million a year, which includes $350 million in federal matching funds. Also, included in the bill is $100 million in anticipated revenue from hospital assessments. Read more »
Pressure is mounting against a proposal to open a for-profit immigrant detention center
in Joliet. Activists submitted 4,000 petitions against the facility to the 
The Crete Village Board unanimously voted Monday night not to go
forward with a planned federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) detention center in their village boundaries – meaning ICE will
likely approach another small town near Chicago. 
The Illinois Senate this afternoon narrowly passed a 