Marchers heading to courthouse

Marchers on a three-day walk from Chicago will arrive in Woodstock this afternoon and, after an early dinner, will wind up their 50-mile walk in protest of increased enforcement against illegal aliens.

The walk, sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (http://icirr.org), is billed as "...a 53-mile pilgrimage to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Center at the McHenry County Jail over three days in a Pilgrimage of Hope for Family Unity and to protest the use of a county policy called "Secure Communities".

One marcher described to me a week or so ago the arrest and detention of a mother whose child was in her (the mother's) car, when she (the mother) was stopped after driving across the centerline. The child was released to a woman who was apparently called at the request of the mother.

I was told that that "the child was released to someone the county didn't know or check out." It sounds to me like the county did the mother a big favor by calling her friend to pick up the child, instead of turning the child over to DCFS.

The illegal immigration problem in the United States is a HUGE problem with no easy, quick or inexpensive solution. But just because someone sneaked into the U.S. 5-10-20 years ago and stayed under the radar for that time does not remove the fact that they are in this country illegally. Following the laws after they get here does not alter the fact that they are here illegally.

Once a person is detained, he or she must be treated humanely. Fortunately for that mother, she was in the detention facility for only a week before the community raised a $5,000 bond for her release.

If a person is otherwise law-abiding, should a bond be that high? If an attachment to the community can be quickly verified (and since a person can be released on a DUI injury-accident ticket for only $300 bond, why not a smaller bond, let them out to return to their family and job (are they paying taxes or working "for cash"?), and set a prompt court date to continue the legal process?

Of course, this would seriously and negatively impact the $90/day cash flow into the McHenry County Sheriff's Department for each detainee housed. But think about who pays that $90/day!