Trump Justice Department sues Illinois and city of Chicago over immigration laws
Department of Justice sues Illinois, the city of Chicago and other local jurisdictions alleging its laws are on the way to the Trump administration Increased immigration enforcement According to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday in the area.
In the legal competition for the Trump administration’s first efforts to avoid obstructing immigration actions, federal officials asked judges to ban Illinois, Chicago, Cook County and Cook County sheriffs from using local laws to protect immigrants to hinder law enforcement.
The Justice Department said some state and local regulations “really interfere with and discriminate against the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration laws and discriminate against” and accused local officials of efforts to stop federal efforts to curb illegal immigration, accusing state officials of disputes.
Illinois immigration officials arrested more than 13,000 undocumented immigrants between 2016 and 2025, according to the complaint.
“The conduct of officials in Chicago and Illinois is minimally enforced and often foiled with certainty – Fidel immigration laws have led to the release of numerous criminals to Chicago over the years, who should have been detained, who should have been Immigrants detained in the United States were removed from office, “litigation” allegedly.
The Justice Department urged the court to step in state and local laws in Illinois and Chicago, prohibiting the sharing of certain information with federal authorities and making arrests of undocumented immigrants in these jurisdictions more difficult.
In a statement, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office withdrew the lawsuit to defend state law and said they would fight in court.
“The Two-Party Illinois Trust Act signed by the Republican governor has been complying with federal law, but it is still today,” the statement said in part.
CBS News has approached the Cook County Commission and Cook County Sheriff Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in response to the lawsuit in the new lawsuit.
“We have passed Illinois laws to protect people and we will continue to focus on taking action with the greatest threat,” Pritzker said in a recent news conference.
Legal challenges are only in jurisdictions where Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Justice Department to stop funding “illegal interference with federal law enforcement actions” and encouraged federal prosecutors across the country to seek states that do not comply with federal immigration. Funding in jurisdictions occurs. effort.
Bondi – sworn in as the U.S. Supreme Law Enforcement Officer that day – wrote in a memorandum: “State and local actors may not hinder, hinder or otherwise comply with legal immigration-related directives.”
Last month, the Justice Department leadership directed prosecutors and law enforcement across the country to focus on developing President Trump’s immigration policies and said they should be at risk of alleging state or local officials that hinder their efforts.
“Supreme clauses and other authorities require state and local actors to comply with the administrative department’s immigration enforcement measures. Federal law prohibits state and local actors from boycotting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with legal immigration-related orders and requests, “Agent” Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove wrote in a January memo obtained by CBS News.
Bove and other Trump administration officials later traveled to Chicago to participate in immigration enforcement operations across the city.
