Illinois seeks to dismiss DOJ case against state’s sanctuary policies
[March 06, 2025]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The state of Illinois is looking to dismiss the
case that the U.S. Department of Justice brought against the state over
migrant sanctuary policies.
In a legal motion, the state of Illinois said the DOJ’s case is
misguided. Among the arguments, the state says federal law does not
preempt state laws that prohibit state and local law enforcement from
giving resources to federal immigration officials for civil immigration
enforcement.
“Consistent with the Tenth Amendment, federal law preserves Illinois’s
sovereign right to opt out of assisting federal immigration agents with
their civil immigration enforcement responsibilities,” the filing said.
“That is what Illinois has done through its statutes, the TRUST Act and
the Way Forward Act.”
The filing further said the state’s law is consistent with the nation’s
federalist system of dual sovereignty.
“Illinois’s constitutionally protected decision not to provide various
forms of assistance to federal immigration agents – detaining or
continuing to detain individuals upon request, providing affirmative
notice of anticipated release dates, or allowing access to individuals
in state or local custody – may result in federal immigration agents
expending their own effort to enforce federal immigration law,” the
filing said.
Also filing a motion to dismiss are Cook County President Tony
Preckwinckle, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Chicago Mayor Brandon
Johnson.
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State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, said Illinois is on the wrong side of
the debate.
“Eighty-one percent of the American public wants these illegals out of
the country and yet here comes ... [Illinois Attorney General] Kwame
Raoul and [Gov.] J.B. Pritzker, who do the exact opposite of what the
American people are demanding,” Rose told The Center Square.
At issue in the DOJ lawsuit are two Illinois laws, the TRUST Act and
the Way Forward Act. The TRUST Act prohibits local and state law
enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials for
civil detention orders. The Way Forward Act expands on that and
prohibits law enforcement from asking about immigration status and
discontinues detention agreements between county jails and federal
immigration agencies.
Rose said Illinois needs to either help the Trump administration get
criminal illegal aliens out of the country or get out of the way.
“And whatever you do, stop telling our local sheriffs that they’re
not allowed to talk to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], we’ve
already got the person detained in jail and they could just hand
them off safely,” Rose said. “Why would you put that bad guy or bad
gal back on the streets to hurt someone else?”
The DOJ is scheduled to respond to the motion to dismiss by April 1. |
