By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – Over 50 Bloomington residents and members of Keep Families Together outside Bloomington City Hall Sunday evening to sing and fast in solidarity with undocumented immigrants.

The Keep Families together campaign seeks a Welcoming City Ordinance for the city of Bloomington, which has been an ongoing debate for over a year. Christina Deutsch, a first-generation immigrant, noted how the immigration process has changed since she first came to America.

“The minds have changed. This country was formed by immigrants,” Deutsch explained. “Back then, in 1964, this country needed us and they welcomed us very easily.”

Deutsch brought palms in honor of Palm Sunday, the day in which the people of Jerusalem welcomed Jesus into their city by laying palm branches on the road ahead of him. She said the story reminded her of locals welcoming people who are different from them.

The group circled together to sing a song about unity and say a prayer for the undocumented immigrants that live in fear.

Illinois People’s Action Executive Director Don Carlson explains the Trust Act doesn’t protect undocumented immigrants from being “arbitrarily” targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He added the Trust Act can go hand-in-hand with a Welcoming City Ordinance.

“The Trust Act is good, but it is related to and supportive of the Welcoming City Ordinance,” said Carlson. “The Welcoming City Ordinance actually provides more teeth to the Trust Act.”

Carlson said while it’s painful the Welcoming City Ordinance has been the subject for so long, it’s nothing compared to the pain undocumented immigrants feel being targeted in their communities. Among the attendees was Bloomington mayor Tari Renner, who held a sign that read “Come back to the table. Pass the ordinance!”

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].