Crime & Law
Donald Trump Administration Sues Chicago, Cook County and Illinois Over Protections for Undocumented Immigrants
The Trump administration Thursday asked a federal judge to invalidate the state, city and county laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents.
The lawsuit names Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling.
The city’s Welcoming City ordinance and the Illinois Trust Act reflects “an intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and to impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” according to the lawsuit.
One of the first acts by President Donald Trump after taking office was to issue an executive order stripping self-proclaimed sanctuary cities of all federal funding. It is unclear what impact that order will have on the budgets of the city, county and state.
The lawsuit is the latest indication that the Trump administration, which is attempting to strip self-proclaimed sanctuary cities of all federal funding, will target Chicago directly as it works to implement the largest mass deportation in American history.
Johnson and Pritzker have repeatedly said Chicago and Illinois will continue to prohibit local and state law enforcement agents from helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deport undocumented residents unless they have been convicted of a crime.
In a statement noting that the Trust Act was signed into law by a Republican governor and approved by a bipartisan vote of the General Assembly, Pritzker said the state law complies with federal law.
“Illinois will defend our law and prioritize police resources for fighting crime while enabling state law enforcement to assist with arresting violent criminals,” Pritzker said, blasting Trump for pardoning more than 1,500 people who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. “We look forward to seeing them in court.”
Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran called for the General Assembly, where Democrats hold a super-majority of seats, to repeal the state law designed to protect undocumented immigrants. Curran’s statement did not distinguish those with criminal records and otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants attempting to work and raise their families and accused both Johnson and Pritzker of protecting “violent criminals.”
Undocumented immigrants do not commit a disproportionate number of crimes compared to those with legal status, according to dozens of studies.
Preckwinkle said the Trump administration is “engaging in tactics that are meant to bully and cause fear.”
“Cook County will stand firm in its commitment to justice and equity,” Preckwinkle said in a statement. “We have faced challenges before, and have met them with resolve. We will do it again.”
In a statement, Johnson vowed the city would “stay focused on our priorities” and continue making investments in mental health, youth employment and affordable housing.
“Chicago is and will remain a welcoming city, with welcoming people who work beside their neighbors to build strong communities where you can still raise a family,” Johnson said. “Chicago will continue to protect the working people of our city and defend against attacks on our longstanding values.”
Johnson has previously blasted Trump’s efforts to deport undocumented immigrants as “unconscionable and abhorrent.”
Before the lawsuit was filed, Johnson agreed to testify March 5 about the city’s self-proclaimed status as a sanctuary city alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. All four are Democrats.
Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance is designed to ensure that all Chicago residents, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, can obtain city services, including police protection and medical care.
One of the first things Trump did when he took office in January 2017 was to sign an executive order that sought to revoke millions of dollars in public safety grants to cities like Chicago, which has been a self-proclaimed sanctuary city since 1985.
The city’s Welcoming City ordinance, first approved in 2006, ratified an executive order issued by former Mayor Harold Washington. That ordinance has been amended twice, most recently in 2021 to ban Chicago police officials from cooperating with federal immigration agents in all cases.
Lawyers for Chicago defended the city’s status as a sanctuary city in court, ultimately winning a total victory that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020.
Two weeks ago, Justice Department officials directed federal prosecutors across the nation on Wednesday to investigate and charge local officials who refuse to help federal officials deport undocumented immigrants.
In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal officials may not “impress into its service — and at no cost to itself — the police officers of the 50 States,” according to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Read More: What Does It Mean That Chicago Is a Sanctuary City? Here’s What to Know
A spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union called the lawsuit an attempt to “harass and intimidate public officials in Illinois and Chicago who are following laws that prioritize local public safety over federal civil immigration enforcement.”
“The lawsuit is little more than the continuation of the name-calling and threats that we saw when White House advisor Tom Homan visited Chicago in December,” said ACLU spokesperson Ed Yohnka. “The Trump Administration cannot bully local communities into participating in their misguided immigration policies.”
Trump’s reelection has already prompted many undocumented immigrants to return to life in the city’s shadows, for fear of exposing themselves or their families to deportation, immigrant advocates said.
Border Czar Homan told CNN on Jan. 27 that his agents would pursue “national security” or “public safety” threats into schools, hospitals and churches.
“We’ll go where we’ve got to go,” Homan said, after expressing frustration that efforts led by Chicago officials and immigration advocates to educate undocumented immigrants had made deportation efforts “very difficult.”
“For instance, Chicago (is) very well educated,” Homan said. “They call it ‘know your rights.’ I call it how to escape arrest, ... how to hide from ICE.”
Homan said he was willing to play a “cat and mouse game” until “every one of them gone.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
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