Crete officials duck detention center foes

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Updated: February 11, 2012 8:22AM

Crete residents and others concerned about an immigrant detention center in the village tried in vain to get some answers Monday night from Mayor Michael Einhorn and village trustees.

About 130 people met earlier at the Crete Township Hall to rally opposition to a plan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a privately run detention center on an undisclosed industrial site south of Burville Road.

Speakers told the crowd that ICE’s plan calls for a 750-bed, medium-security center for suspected illegal immigrants, who would be housed there to await deportation.

Those attending voiced various concerns about the center, including that it was not needed, would lower property values and would be unfair to immigrants. After about an hour of discussion, many decided impromptu to go two blocks to the village hall, where the village board was meeting, to confront Mayor Michael Einhorn and trustees over the issue.

Einhorn and the trustees went into closed session as people started arriving. After waiting about 15 minutes, the crowd left, vowing to attend the next village board meeting to try to get answers.

In July, village administrator Thomas Durkin said Crete had been selected as a tentative site for the center. He said the village and Corrections Corporation of America had submitted a proposal to ICE in November 2010.

Contributing: Phil Kadner