Peck says illegal immigrant rules better suited to village nuisance ordinance

The Plainfield Village Board adopted a new business license ordinance Monday that does not include a provision by which someone could be stripped of their business standing if they knowingly employ an illegal immigrant.

Trustee Garrett Peck had requested last week that a clause addressing the issue be added, prompting the board to postpone voting on the ordinance until more research could be done. Some trustees questioned whether the village could enforce such a rule given that immigration issues fall under the federal government's domain.

The measure sans the illegal immigrant clause passed unanimously without discussion. After the meeting, Peck said he decided not to push the idea as part of the business license rules because it was better suited for the village's nuisance regulations.

"I feel we're better off putting it in the nuisance ordinance," he said.

He declined to explain why it would be a better fit there or how it would be enforced under that ordinance. When asked for more information, he repeated his statement that he believed it the village would be "better off" addressing it as a nuisance issue.

There are no current plans to review the nuisance ordinance, but Village Manager Brian Murphy said he believed Peck was serious in his desire to find a place in village regulations that would allow officials to deal with business owners who knowingly employ illegal workers.

"I think (Peck) realized the idea he brought forward recognizing the problem was probably not the best fit for the business license ordinance," Murphy said. "We still need to find a resolution to the question."

The nuisance ordinance is one that can be used when someone deliberately does the same action over and over, despite being told to stop and the person agreeing it would not be repeated, Murphy said.

An example of someone who might be prosecuted under the nuisance ordinance, he said, is someone in the construction business who leaves his supplies in his driveway, raising the ire of his neighbors. The police are called, he cleans up the mess, promises not to do it again only to renege on the promise later, and then to do it again and again, Murphy said.