Joining at least two other Democrat-run states, Illinois lawmakers passed a bill on Friday prohibiting federal immigration agents from arresting illegal aliens near and around state courthouses.
The Illinois bill, sent to anti-Trump Gov. JB Pritzker for signing, not only seeks to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations inside courthouses but establishes a 1,000-foot “buffer zone” outside of buildings, Capitol News Illinois reported.
The bill also would allow Illinois residents to bring lawsuits against agents whom they allege violated their constitutional rights, including for due process and unreasonable search and seizures.
“Our communities have been living in fear — fear of being separated from their children, fear of being taken from their homes, fear of simply existing,” State Sen. Celina Villaneuva, a Chicago Democrat, told the capitol news service. “This bill is about giving people a sense of safety, a sense of humanity, and the assurance that their government sees them and will stand up for them.”
However, one of its top sponsors, Democratic Senate President Don Harmon, is questioning whether it can withstand a court challenge, the Associated Press reported Friday.
“It’s not just about the constitutionality of the law, which I think is sound, but it’s the reality that the courts are stacked against us,” Harmon told the wire service. “The federal government can try to remove it from state courts to federal courts. They can try to substitute the government itself for the individual defendants, but that’s not a reason not to try.”
The legislative package was passed in response to the federal immigration enforcement campaign in Illinois and Indiana known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported that Operation Midway Blitz has resulted in the arrest of ”more than 3,000 illegal aliens, including rapists, murderers, and gang members” in the effort in both states.
Earlier this month, a Cook County judge blocked immigration arrests at county courthouses, which include Chicago. The order prohibits immigration authorities from arresting any “party, witness, or potential witness” during court appearances, according to Fox News.
California and Connecticut also have measures in place that attempt to prevent courthouse arrests of illegal immigrants.
California has restricted immigration enforcement action in courthouses since 2017. In Connecticut, a chief judge for the state’s supreme court issued a policy ruling earlier this fall banning warrantless arrests inside state courts.
The Trump administration earlier this year reversed a DHS policy in place since 2011 and promoted by the Biden administration that prohibited arrests without prior approval in “sensitive locations” such as hospitals, schools, churches, and courthouses.
Since the change, ICE officers have arrested immigrants in or around courthouses in at least seven different states, the Latino News Network reported.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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