Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana has reversed his support for a plan to designate a new facility for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house illegal migrants slated for deportation in the northern Illinois region.
The Republican sheriff had been working with ICE to develop the facility, but after being confronted with angry pro-illegal activists, Caruana did an about face on Thursday, according to Illinois Public Media of Will County.
Caruana announced his decision just ahead of a rally that was planned in downtown Rockford, the largest city in his county and the state’s third-largest metropolis situated nearly two hours northwest of Chicago.
Citing severe jail staff shortages, the sheriff claimed that he had asked ICE to guarantee that only illegals convicted of or arrested for crimes would be held in the proposed Winnebago County facility, but ICE was…
