After returning to the White House for the second time, the Trump Administration has regularly attempted to harangue, cajole and harass states and municipalities that have adopted sanctuary policies – policies that bar state and local law enforcement from cooperating in federal, civil immigration enforcement. The President and his allies have repeatedly claimed that state and local officials are putting residents in their communities at risk by failing to cooperate in his mass deportation program. State and local governments with sanctuary policies counter by arguing that by assuring that all persons – including those who are undocumented – can cooperate with local law enforcement without fear of their immigration status being investigated, police will get more information about public safety concerns at the local level.
In March 2025 the Trump Administration filed a lawsuit against the State of Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago seeking to force the state and local government to abandon their laws and participate in the Administration’s mass deportation program.
We filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the State and local governments’ efforts to dismiss the lawsuit in the federal district court. The brief was filed on behalf of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Mujeres Latinas en Acción in addition to the ACLU of Illinois and the National Immigrant Justice Center.
The amicus brief challenged the Trump Administration’s false narratives that immigrants are dangerous or more prone to criminal activity. The Administration has repeatedly used claims of public safety and fear to justify harsh, illegal and reckless immigration enforcement. Sanctuary policies, according to research cited in the brief, actually increase public safety and are particularly effective in combating intimate partner violence against Latina women.
The impact on crime rates is especially pronounced with regard to domestic and gender-based violence. Immigrant and newcomer women already are more susceptible to such violence owing to factors such as language barriers, lack of familiarity with our legal system and support systems and fear of police based on experience with the system in their country of origin. Data in studies show that communities with sanctuary policies see a lower rate of domestic homicides involving Hispanic women.
The ACLU brief also notes that by focusing scarce law enforcement resources on addressing criminal activity – rather than civil immigration enforcement – state and local communities with sanctuary policies are able to maintain safer conditions for residents in those areas. One study concludes that “data suggests that when local law enforcement focuses on keeping communities safe, rather than becoming entangled in federal immigration enforcement efforts, communities are safer and community members stay more engaged in the local economy.”
In July 2025, a federal district court judge rejected the Trump Administration’s arguments and dismissed the lawsuit against the State of Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago.