By Illinois Review
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois against Democratic officials including Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Cook County Board President Tony Preckwinkle and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart – alleging that Illinois ‘”sanctuary city” laws “interfere” and limit federal law enforcement’s ability to deport dangerous migrants.
“We’ve identified Illinois, the city of Chicago and Cook County as all having laws and ordinances on the books that impede federal immigration enforcement, in particular the Chicago Welcoming ordinance, the Illinois Trust Act,” said a Justice Department official to the New York Post.
The lawsuit cites examples where local laws “restrict local governments from sharing immigration information with federal law enforcement officials.” And in an unsettling statement, the suit states that “instead of handing over people who are in prison or in jail to federal immigration authorities they will just let folks go.”
President Donald Trump, who still owns Trump National Hotel and Tower in Chicago, has kept a close eye on the ‘Windy City.’ And as a senior DoJ official noted, “This lawsuit will put the spotlight on obstruction by state and local officials and their refusal to support the administration and compliance with the law.”
On Thursday, Pam Bondi was sworn in as the new U.S. Attorney General at a ceremony in the Oval Office – and she has wasted no time. And this lawsuit is more evidence of the Trump administration’s commitment to correct the open border policies advocated by the previous administration.
Last week, ICE, in collaboration with various federal agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Marshals – descended on Chicago to carry out “targeted operations” to root out and arrest dangerous migrants who were here illegally and taking advantage of the city’s “sanctuary city” status.
President Trump’s “Border Czar” Tom Homan and Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove were also spotted in Chicago – as well as television personality and psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw – who was documenting the raids as an outside observer.
“This governor, Gov. Pritzker and the mayor – they want to vilify the men and women of ICE. ICE saved children today. ICE saved children today. And it makes me angry the other day Gov. Pritzker went on the internet – social media saying ‘ICE was attacking our elementary school.’ He’s scaring children. He’s scaring the neighborhood and putting fear in the community,” said Homan while in Chicago.
“We’re saving children. Every sexual predator that we arrest means more safe children. So God bless the men and women of ICE.”
It’s estimated that over 20,000 migrants arrived in Chicago last year – many with violent criminal records – costing more than $400 million.
