The Cook County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday considered a measure meant to strengthen sanctuary protections and close a legal loophole that could allow federal immigration agents to obtain information about undocumented immigrants indirectly.
The board wants to introduce an amendment that would bar private contractors from selling or sharing residents’ personal data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigrant rights activists say LexisNexis has sold immigration agents data from the Illinois DMV, jail and court data, and other records.
The activists joined Cook County commissioners Alma Anaya and Jessica Vásquez to urge passage of the amendment 15 years after the county adopted a sanctuary ordinance for immigrants, which prevents the Cook County sheriff from complying with ICE requests to hand over inmates to immigration authorities.
On Wednesday, the commissioners and activists took part in a press conference with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “We live under constant surveillance, and this technology is, unfortunately, not regulated in any way,” Anaya said. “As Cook County commissioners, we have a duty to protect our residents from becoming, as we are already seeing, constantly targeted,” she added.
County officials also said they are considering measures to regulate Flock cameras and other automated license plate reader systems.
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Source: Polski.FM
