Help elect Robert Sabonjian Jr., oust Richard Hyde in repudiation of city perceived anti-immigrant bias
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Remember those big immigration marches a couple of summers back? Remember what the predominately Latino demonstrators were chanting?

"Today we march! Tomorrow we vote!"

Well, they voted Tuesday in Waukegan, not all that many actually in terms of raw numbers, but enough to help defeat an incumbent mayor whose administration was widely viewed as openly antagonistic to Mexicans.

The decision by Waukegan voters to select Robert Sabonjian Jr. to replace Mayor Richard Hyde was being touted Wednesday as a repudiation of that city's anti-immigration tactics of recent years -- and a major victory for those who hope to organize Latino immigrants into a voting force.

'Latino support was crucial'
Let us concede before going further that Hyde and his supporters would say their concern was only with illegal immigration, and Sabonjian would say his victory was based on a much broader coalition of support, as would have to be the case in a city where Latino voters are still a minority.

But even Sabonjian said Wednesday he was the beneficiary of "massive support from the Latino community."

I'm not sure how "massive" it could have been with only about 7,500 total ballots cast citywide in an extremely low turnout election, the Latino vote probably accounting for no more than a third of that.

Still, it was apparently enough. A post-election analysis performed by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights indicated that in the 10 Waukegan precincts with the highest percentage of Latino voters, Hyde's percentage of the vote fell from 70 percent four years ago to 37 percent Tuesday.

"The Latino community supported me. They worked hard for me. We know the Latino support was crucial," said Sabonjian, a Lake County board member and son of another former Waukegan mayor.

Although he is a Democrat, Sabonjian ran as an independent in Tuesday's election against Hyde, also a Democrat, and Republican Greg Flesher -- an unusual triangulation that contributed to the low turnout and result in a city where the winner is usually decided in the primary.

Others were less reticent about taking credit.

"We made the difference, of course, yes," said Jose Luis Zavala, owner of El Chapala restaurant, where Sabonjian had his victory night celebration. "Without our vote, I don't think he can win."

Zavala said he helped organize a movement in the local Mexican community to support Sabonjian, including a phone bank that operated from the restaurant. He said it was easy to build support because of resentment against Hyde and Waukegan police, whom he accused of abusing Mexican residents. Among the areas of concern was a city towing ordinance viewed as confiscatory and Hyde's support for allowing Waukegan police officers to enforce immigration laws.

"They profile Spanish people. This kind of abuse, it's not fair. It's not good," said Zavala, 50, an American citizen and 22-year resident of Waukegan.

I want to be careful here. I don't claim to have an intimate knowledge of Waukegan politics nor have I studied the issue of how that city's police treat Mexican residents to know if the accusations are legitimate.

But I'm convinced the perception in the Latino community of unfair treatment --and the resulting decision to fight back --had a big impact on this election.

That's certainly what made the win so satisfying for Josh Hoyt, executive director of Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which in the past five years has assisted about 2,300 legal permanent residents in Waukegan applying for citizenship and registered 2,600 new immigrant voters in the town through the New Americans Democracy project.

"We're absolutely thrilled because Waukegan is proof that organizing actually works," Hoyt said, attributing the election outcome to "long, slow quiet work in the face of adversity."

'Sowed terror and anger'
Although the coalition must be non- partisan, that doesn't prevent Hoyt from having a rooting interest.

He said the group's organizing efforts in Waukegan overcame a "heavy, heavy overlay of fear" in the immigrant community.

"They turned hunting Mexicans into a revenue-generating strategy for the city," Hoyt said bluntly. "It just sowed terror and anger in the Latino community."

Sabonjian was smart enough to present himself as an alternative, promising to deal with the heavy fines in the towing ordinance and block any further consideration of using police as immigration agents.

Jackie Herrera-Giron, a former coalition organizer who grew up in Waukegan, worked on the Sabonjian campaign.

"I think it's a lesson to be learned for Illinois politics and any community with a large Latino population that tries to adapt anti-immigration ordinances," she said.

Some lessons take hold more slowly than others.