State lawmakers advance bill to keep immigration detention centers out of communities like suburban Broadview– chicago.suntimes.com

State lawmakers are taking steps to, in the future, keep immigration detention centers out of communities.

Under a bill that moved out of an Illinois House committee Wednesday, new immigration detention centers would be prohibited within 1,500 feet of schools, churches, day care centers, cemeteries, public parks, forest preserves, private residences and public housing.

Testifying in support of the legislation was House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson, both of whom represent the Broadview area, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center played a major role in Operation Midway Blitz last fall. The bill got broad support from Democrats, but was unanimously opposed by Republicans.

“This bill says something very simple and very reasonable: Detention facilities do not belong in the middle of our neighborhoods,” Welch said. “They should not be next to schools, they should not be next to day care centers, they should not sit beside parks, public housing, places of worship, or private homes like the Broadview detention center does.”