Trump Administration Sues Illinois, Chicago Over Sanctuary Laws

The Trump administration filed suit in a Chicago federal court on Thursday, alleging that sanctuary laws in Illinois, Chicago and Cook County are obstructing the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration policies.

The lawsuit names Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago and Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, both Democrats, along with Superintendent Larry Snelling of the Chicago Police Department and other local elected officials in the nation’s third-largest city. It is believed to be the new Trump administration’s first legal action against state and local officials to try to make them provide more assistance in federal immigration enforcement.

The lawsuit asserts that local and state officials’ lack of cooperation with federal enforcement of immigration laws has resulted in “countless criminals being released into Chicago” who should have been subject to deportation.

Illinois and Chicago have laws in place to limit their cooperation with federal agencies’ efforts to deport undocumented immigrants. The Illinois Trust Act, which prevents local law enforcement from holding immigrant prisoners without a court warrant, was signed into law in 2017 by former Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican.

In a statement, Mr. Pritzker said that the Trust Act has “always been compliant with federal law and still is today.”

“Illinois will defend our laws that prioritize police resources for fighting crime while enabling state law enforcement to assist with arresting violent criminals,” he said.

Mr. Johnson said in a statement that the city’s law department was reviewing the lawsuit. “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,” he said, vowing to “defend against attacks on our longstanding values.”

A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Toni Preckwinkle, the president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said that the county’s policies “reflect our longstanding values and ensure that local resources are used to promote public safety and community trust. We will review the complaint and respond accordingly.”

The Justice Department said last month that it could prosecute state and city officials who refuse to help the administration carry out its immigration agenda. It declined on Thursday to comment on the suit.

Sanctuary policies, which keep local police departments mostly removed from immigration enforcement activity, have been instituted in many liberal-leaning cities as a way to build trust with immigrant communities. Elected officials in many cities say that the policies help immigrants feel comfortable reporting crimes and interacting with health departments and schools.

The Trump administration conducted a multiagency immigration enforcement operation last week in Chicago, part of a vow by the president to conduct mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants across the country.

Legal experts said that even if the courts find the Trump administration’s executive orders on immigration to be constitutionally sound, that doesn’t mean they’ll go along with attempts to punish state and local officials who refuse to carry them out.

Printz v. United States, a 1997 Supreme Court ruling, found that county sheriffs couldn’t be compelled to perform background checks on gun buyers.

Several immigration advocacy groups in Illinois filed a lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month in an effort to block the agency from conducting certain immigration operations in Chicago.

Devlin Barrett and Mattathias Schwartz contributed reporting.