The Trump administration has filed its first lawsuit over sanctuary laws that protect illegal aliens, suing the city of Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois.
🚨 JUST IN: The Trump DOJ has just SUED the the state of Illinois and City of Chicago for interfering in ICE’s deportation operations, per NYP
Pam Bondi’s laying down the law, and this is the “first of MANY” lawsuits to be filed, per DOJ officials.
Sanctuary jurisdictions like… pic.twitter.com/XSnCmNmSdg
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 6, 2025
The lawsuit argues that these sanctuary jurisdictions have implemented policies that interfere with the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration laws and conduct law enforcement operations against criminal illegal aliens.
Speaking to the New York Post, one unnamed Department of Justice (DOJ) official explained: “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.”
Newly-confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi also highlighted the significance of the lawsuit, pointing out that Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois have been prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens.
“For too long, leaders in Illinois and Chicago have abused their power by putting the comfort of illegal aliens over the safety and welfare of their own citizens. This ends today,” Bondi declared. “The Department of Justice will no longer stand by as state and local leaders obstruct federal law enforcement efforts, endangering their citizens and the brave men and women in uniform.”
There are several laws in Illinois that are obviously unconstitutional, including the Illinois Trust Act from 2017, which states: “State law does not currently grant State or local law enforcement the authority to enforce federal civil immigration laws.”
Another unconstitutional law is Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which bars law enforcement officials from detaining illegal aliens based on their status, which states that “No agency or agent shall: arrest, detain or continue to detain a person solely on the belief that the person is not present legally in the United States.”
The Trump administration’s lawsuit details exactly how these laws interfere with federal law enforcement’s ability to enforce immigration law, pointing out that these jurisdictions “refuse to cooperate with detainers” on illegal aliens placed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“So instead of handing over people who are in prison or in jail to federal immigration authorities they will just let folks go,” the lawsuit continues.
Another DOJ official who spoke with the New York Post stated: “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. The law says people who are here illegally are not allowed to stay here, they should be deported. So we want to make sure those impediments are taken away.”
“These states and localities advertise themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions. They are inviting people here who are illegal, and they’re promising to protect them from federal law enforcement,” the unnamed DOJ official continued, adding that this case is likely to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The unnamed official also emphasized the fact that these laws “need to be struck from the books because they’re incentivizing illegal immigration into the country.”
This lawsuit comes just one day after Bondi was sworn into office as attorney general.
