SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Immigrants living in Illinois, among the states hit hardest by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, are now shielded from federal enforcement near courthouses, hospitals, university campuses and day cares under a law Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker signed Tuesday.
The law, which takes effect immediately, also provides legal steps for people whose constitutional rights were violated during the federal enforcement action in the Chicago area, including $10,000 in damages for someone unlawfully arrested while attempting to attend a court proceeding.
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“Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task,” Pritzker said at a bill-signing in the largely Latino Little Village neighborhood in Chicago. “Illinois — in the face of cruelty and intimidation — has chosen solidarity and support.”
Critics complain the law will be overturned by the courts.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's “Operation Midway Blitz," which appears to have wound down, arrested more than 4,000 people. Data on those arrested from early September through mid-October showed only 15% had criminal records, with traffic offenses, misdemeanors or nonviolent felonies comprising the vast majority.
Legislators did not return to session until October and approved the measure late in the month, sending it to Pritzker, whose staff reviewed it in the intervening weeks.
Federal agents are now prohibited from making civil arrests in or around courthouses of a person attending certain legal proceedings, and the law provides for $10,000 in fines for the arrest of someone the officer should have known was attending a court hearing. It prevents the release of private medical records by hospitals, blocks universities from taking certain actions regarding the immigration status of students or employees and precludes day cares from sharing such status information.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said of Pritzker, “He must be unfamiliar with the U.S. Constitution,” the Supremacy Clause of which declares that federal law cannot be superseded.
“We hope the headlines, social media likes, and fundraising emails he did this for are worth it,” McLaughlin said.
When the Legislature approved the plan, state Senate President Don Harmon, a Democrat, acknowledged critics' complaints that it would face a legal challenge. He said he believes it's constitutional but said the Trump administration could try to find a friendly court to overturn it.
“There is no badge, no title, no mask that puts anyone above the Constitution,” Harmon said Tuesday. “This law sends the message that if you abuse your authority, there are consequences."
Linda Tortolero, head of the advocacy group Latino Policy Forum, said the new law shows how "in Illinois, we stand by immigrant families, democracy, and civil rights.”
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This story has been updated to correct that the federal immigration enforcement action in Illinois arrested more than 4,000 people, not 3,000.