Early today, a federal district court judge in Chicago rejected the Trump Administration’s efforts to challenge statewide and local policies in Illinois that bar state and local law enforcement from engaging in federal civil immigration enforcement. The Administration sought to block the enforcement of our state and local laws in an attempt to further fuel their mass deportation plan.
The following can be attributed to Edwin C. Yohnka, director of Communications and Public Policy at the ACLU of Illinois:
The Court was correct to reject the Trump Administration’s lawsuit and to allow public officials in Illinois and Chicago to follow our policies that prioritize local public safety and welfare over federal civil immigration enforcement. The Constitution permits state and local government to determine local priorities without interference from the federal government. The ruling pushes back against the President’s belief that he can unilaterally dictate that all government entities participate in his destructive and increasingly unpopular mass deportation program.
It is also a moment to remind everyone that Trump’s claims that policies such as the Illinois’ TRUST Act and Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance make our communities less safe have no basis in reality. In fact, as we made clear in a filing with the court, years of research demonstrate that communities with these sorts of policies are safer than those where law enforcement cooperates in federal immigration enforcement.
We are pleased that the Court recognized that the Trump Administration cannot bully local communities into participating in their misguided immigration policies.