ICE Paid $18,000 To Village of Oak Lawn In 2017

OAK LAWN, IL -- A new study shows hundreds of for-profit and non-profit companies raking in billions of dollars worth of ICE contracts including the Village of Oak Lawn, according to Sludge, an investigative journalism site that analyzes lobbying and money in politics. The U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, is tasked with protecting America from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety, including the removal of illegal aliens.

According to Sludge, through the Trump Administration’s enforcement of stricter immigration policies, ICE has arrested an “increasing number of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers, making government contractors even more necessary than before to transport, guard and detain immigrants, as well as to translate and inspect facilities, among other services.”

Sludge analyzed all ICE contracts that were ongoing as of July 5, 2018 or ended that day. The data—over 6,000 transactions—include contracts with no listed end date.

In 2017, the Village of Oak Lawn was paid $18,000 by ICE to use the police department’s gun range located in the bowels of village hall. According to the data, ICE has a contract with Oak Lawn that expires on Nov. 30, 2021.

Division Chief Daniel Vittorio, of the Oak Lawn Police Department, said the gun range was built with federal grant money.

“We have to let other agencies use it,” Vittorio told Patch. “We’re responsible for maintaining it and keeping it clean. There are a lot of filters down there.”

The gun range is used by ICE and various suburban police departments for firearms qualifications and target practice. Agencies are charged an operating fee to cover costs, such as ammunition clean up.

“The price is the same for how many times you use it and how many times you’re down there,” Vittorio said. “It’s a standard contract we have with any other agency.”

Using 2017 data from usaspending.gov, the first year of the Trump presidency, Sludge reported that $1.7 billion went to ICE contractors, largest sum spent since 2008. This year is on track to beat that total.

Schaumburg-based Motorola had the most lucrative ICE contract in the Illinois at $2,992,767. (Read the complete list of ICE contracts.)

Other Illinois subsidiaries or companies doing business with ICE include:

• Nathaniel Howell, Yorkville, $344,014.60
• Convergent Technologies, Schaumburg/Seattle, WA, $17,624
• CDW Government Inc., Vernon Hills, $344,014.60
• Life Fitness Inc./Brunswick Corp., Rosemont, $6,297
• B&K Technology Solutions Inc., Pontiac/San Antonio, TX, $29,664
• Veteran Technology Partners, O’Fallon, IL/Arlington, VA, $550,302.86
• Continental Transportation Solutions, Northlake/Broadview/Melrose Park/Chicago, $55,917.08
• Cummins-Allison Corp., Mt. Prospect/Columbus, OH, $51,521.95
• R.A. Mechanical & Sons, Inc., Lombard/Broadview, $33,000
• Havision Network Video. Inc./Havison Systems Inc., Lake Forest/Washington, DC, $15,260
• J&S Power Solutions Inc., Hinsdale/Miami, FL, $6,180
• Eco-Clean Maintenance Inc., Chicago, $19,596
• OER Services LLC, Arlington Heights/Long Beach CA, $108,000
• Anacapa Micro Products Inc., Des Plaines, $2,050.10
• Peoria County, IL, $250

Source: Sludge, "Who Is Making Money from ICE in Your State?"