Public commenters ask Highland Park to consider limits on ICE activity; resident reports alleged domestic abuse
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Summary
During public comment, Ken Temkin urged the City Council to join nearby jurisdictions in restricting ICE activity on local property and provided a hotline number for reporting ICE encounters. Another speaker, Renee Bovai, described ongoing domestic-violence allegations and a lack of health care for her children; the council did not take action but
Two members of the public addressed the Highland Park City Council on Oct. 20 with distinct concerns: one urged local policy action related to immigration enforcement, and another detailed personal allegations of domestic abuse.
Ken Temkin told the council federal immigration enforcement officials have recently taken aggressive actions in the Chicago area and urged Highland Park to ‘‘join those entities and take a leadership role in confronting this growing federal overreach.’’ He cited measures taken by Chicago and Evanston to limit ICE activities on local properties and asked the council to coordinate with other communities to ‘‘support the constitutional protections and rights for everyone.’’ Temkin provided a hotline number for community use, (855) 435-7693, which he said connects to a family-support network run by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Later in the public-comment period, resident Renee Bovai described a prolonged domestic situation she says has affected her children’s access to health care and their welfare. Bovai said her children ‘‘have no health care’’ and described alleged physical abuse and a lack of support, and urged the community to respond; she asked for help and said the matter is ‘‘a big problem.’’
City staff offered to follow up with Temkin and asked him to leave contact information with the city manager. No formal council action or referral to a hearing was recorded for either public comment during the meeting.