CORRECTED 9/28/22 2:50 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – Would Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria be worried about any potential history of any migrants that might show up on a bus from Chicago or the southern border, as has been rumored in the last week or so?
Echevarria tells WMBD’s Craig Collins no, not really, at least not right away.
“We have people who are showing up who, quite frankly, decided to find a new place to live, and now they ended up in Peoria,” said Echevarria. “We have to have a humanitarian response at that moment, and figure out what are the needs of these families. It’s not just adults; there’s kids that show up as well.”
Echevarria says there probably will be some sort of process to get information from the migrants if they come — probably related to who they are, where they are supposed to go, and other things.
But, the chief says, that’s probably where local community stakeholders will come in.
Echevarria says if and when busloads of migrants might come to the city — either via Chicago or almost straight from the Southern border — it does no one any good for them to see a bunch of people in police uniforms first thing.
“As the Chief of Police, I’m probably going to be one of the first people that’s notified that we have a bus or several busses showing up,” said Echevarria. “One of the things I don’t want to happen, as the Chief of Police…is that busses show up, and they’re greeted by a bunch of police officers standing there in uniforms as if we were immigration officers. That’s not who we are.”
Echevarria says that’s why he held a meeting last Friday with primarily members of the Hispanic community, where he, among other things, sought help instead, getting any group of migrants things they might need — like language translators, food, clothing, and shelter.
He says what he called “proper representation” is necessary if a bus shows up.
NOTE: This story was corrected to remove the word “criminal” from the first sentence, as it’s come to light that’s not the context in which the question was asked. We regret the error.
