Many immigrants consider Elgin a community that welcomes them. But the northwestern suburb is now taking steps against those who lack proper papers to be in the country. And that’s prompted some Elgin residents to call for tolerance.

Elgin Mayor Ed Schock denies his city is turning into another Carpentersville or Waukegan. Those suburbs have distinguished themselves for cracking down on illegal aliens.

But this week Elgin announced it’ll strengthen ties with immigration authorities, spot-check city contractors for illegal employees, increase screening of jailed immigrants, and confirm the Social Security numbers of city job applicants. An Elgin group called the Association for Legal Americans has been pushing such steps for months and claims about 3,000 supporters.

CAMPOS-MOREIRA: What you need is another group of people—which we believe, truly is the majority of Elgin, who are welcoming—to speak up.

Social-work student Linda Campos-Moreira is upset about her city’s course. This month she helped form a group called SOAP, short for Speaking Out Against Prejudice. Last night about two dozen members decided to draw up a petition that stands up for immigrants.