Local News for Will County, Joliet, New Lenox, Manhattan, Wilmington, Peotone, Beecher, Elwood, and Frankfort Illinois. All Photos Copyright, All Rights Reserved, Unless Otherwise Noted. Email requests for use with attribution to willcountynews@gmail.com.
Joliet Immigrant Detention Center Public Forum
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By Ann Baskerville
JOLIET--Hundreds packed the Our Lady of Mount Caramel Parish Hall on Joliet's East Side tonight to begin organizing efforts against a possible immigrant detention center in Joliet, Illinois.
Town Hall Meeting on the Joliet Immigrant Prison
A priest and a representative from the Diocese of Joliet quoted scripture while citizens who organized a successful campaign against a private, for-profit immigrant detention center in Crete, Illinois told the crowd, "We are with you" and "Si, se puede" to a standing ovation.
Signs against the Crete and Joliet Immigrant Detention Centers
Pastor Craig Purchase spoke out against an immigrant detention center, saying: "we in the black community should not tolerate this issue." Purchase said at one point he did not hold the position he had now because he had not yet put himself in the shoes of an undocumented person. Purchase said when you really understand this issue, it's a "no brainer." Purchase went on to say we live in a society where African-Americans and whites have been told the "brown people are taking your jobs," but really, "our jobs are in China":
A woman discusses her experience in a Detention Center and the stress that experience placed on her children:
NASCAR announced on August 20, 2025 that racing will return to Joliet's Chicagoland Speedway in 2026. The NASCAR cup series is scheduled to race in Joliet on July 5, 2026. The last NASCAR race in Joliet was in 2019. View of Chicagoland Speedway in 2011:
Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant has issued an executive order creating restrictions on the use of county property for immigration enforcement staging areas. The order also established guidelines for immigration enforcement actions on county property and provides guidance on referring residents to legal resources. Press release regarding the executive order from the Will County Executive's website "Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant has issued an executive order that clarifies how county government will respond to increased federal immigration enforcement actions. The order creates restrictions on the use of county property for immigration enforcement staging areas, establishes guidelines for immigration enforcement actions on county property, and provides guidance on referring residents to legal resources and temporary visas available to crime victims. “I am deeply concerned about reports I am receiving about federal immigration activity occurring l...
The Kankakee County Board voted to approve the Heritage Prairie Solar Farm at its November 9, 2022 meeting. The solar farm will be built just south of the Will County Border east of Essex, Illinois. The solar company has approximately 3700 acres under long-term lease and about 1600 of those acres will have panels and other infrastructure built on them. To view the solar farm company's presentation to the County Board and the Board's discussion, you can view the meeting on the Kankakee County Board's YouTube Channel here. The solar company presentation starts around the 30 minute mark. A representative of the Carpenters Union spoke during public comment at the beginning of the meeting to advocate for the developer to negotiate a project labor agreement with the carpenters and to include all the trades in a project labor agreement for this project. During their presentation, the developers explained they currently have a Tri-Trade Memorandum of Understan...
