The Jefferson County Council has sealed off the county line from illegal immigrants – at least symbolically.
Council members voted 4-2 on Dec. 21 to approve a resolution to “oppose the importation of illegal immigrants in Jefferson County, Missouri.”
Council member Bob Tullock (District 7, House Springs), who proposed the resolution, voted for it, as did Gene Barbagallo (District 2, Imperial), Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) and Dan Stallman (District 6, De Soto).
Council members Brian Haskins (District 1, High Ridge) and Scott Seek (District 5, Festus) cast dissenting votes.
Seek said he voted against the resolution, which has no legal authority, because he didn’t see the need for it.
“I don’t see a problem (with illegal immigrants in the county),” he said. “I have not found it. I have received overwhelming contact with people in my district and outside my district; they do not agree with this. Why would I add more resolutions and legalities to this, if there’s not a reason for it? If we have a problem, let’s address the problem when there’s a problem. And I want to stress, I’m not for illegal immigration. I’m for legal immigration.”
Haskins agreed.
“We don’t have that problem,” he said. “Sometimes we look for problems that don’t exist.”
However, Groeteke said passing the resolution is significant. “The purpose of this resolution is to send a message to our representatives in Washington, D.C., to do something about the problems on our Southern border,” he said.
Tullock said he meant for the resolution to send a message.
“Let’s keep in mind that this resolution does nothing other than support our state and federal laws. That’s all it does,” he said. “Most everybody I speak with does not have a problem with people coming in this country legally, but they do have a problem with people coming in through the back door, or coming in through the basement window, doing it unlawfully, because that does cause a problem.
“This sends a message, a strong signal, that we do things legally in Jefferson County.”
Seven people spoke before the vote on the subject, with four speaking against passage of the resolution and three saying they were for it.
Joseph Stewart of Barnhart said he favored the resolution.
“Bringing what I consider illegal immigrants into this county, which is what they’re doing to break the back of this country, is not going to help,” he said. “I just want people to understand that immigration is a problem, but it doesn’t need to come to our doorstep. We didn’t invite this here and we don’t need this here.
“Do we have it great in the U.S.A.? Yeah, we do, but that doesn’t mean I want all these people coming in to live on my doorstep and they’re not invited to my house. I will help someone if they need help, but they’re going to have to come in here the right way. The right way is not kicking in my door, and I consider any border of this country my door. You kick in my door, you’re going to go out in a bag. That’s a promise, a guarantee.”
Another Barnhart resident, Tony Schlet, was less strident. He said he has participated in several mission trips to Mexico and Guatemala.
“The immigration system is broken,” he said. “If we can’t figure out how to do homeless people in this county and make room for them, how are we going to do this immigration? Immigration is big. But this needs to be fixed in Washington, not in this county.”
A third Barnhart resident, Ben Hagan, took the council to task for busying itself with a meaningless resolution.
“This is not about illegal immigrants, or undocumented immigrants,” he said. “This is a distraction to keep your focus on a group that’s near nonexistent in Jefferson County, and while people are distracted, you’re greenlighting TIF and CID districts, adding taxes to benefit the wealthy and shift the burden to those who can least afford it.
“Your resolution is a solution in search of a problem. You all up there know this, and if you don’t, we have a bigger problem. But let me entertain your distraction. I keep hearing daily that people don’t want to work anymore. I don’t agree. I believe that no one wants to be taken advantage of by corporate greed anymore, but giving that a benefit of a doubt, wouldn’t having immigrants come to our county help alleviate that problem?”
Sister Angela Dolores Sanchez, a Catholic nun from St. Louis, said she has worked with immigrants for more than 30 years.
“They are such good workers,” she said. “Whether they come to Jefferson County, I don’t think anyone’s going to import them, so the language of your resolution confuses me. The right way to immigrate into this country has been broken for a long time. It takes some people a wait of 20 years. That’s not a feasible way to legally immigrate, unless you’re a professional or are married to a citizen.
“There’s the law of the land here, so I don’t understand the need to emphasize it, other than to say we don’t want immigrants. I respect that if that is the desire of all the people in Jefferson County, but I think that’s your loss.”
Antonio Maldonado of the Hispanic Leaders Group of Greater St. Louis said his group opposes such resolutions.
“We advocate against local governments straining their budgets and tarnishing their images by formulating resolutions that lack legal enforceability,” he said. “Creating such local resolutions is unnecessary and would lead to adverse consequences in our community. It is vital to carefully weigh the potential negative outcome of such resolutions and duly recognize the invaluable contributions immigrants have made to our community.”