CHICAGO (CN) – A group of Illinois sheriffs sued the state attorney general Monday over a law prohibiting police from arresting anyone based solely on their immigration status, which the sheriffs argue forces them to choose between enforcing state or federal law but not both.
The narrow measure, known as the Trust Act, was signed into law by then-Governor Bruce Rauner, a Republican, in August 2017. It prohibits police from searching, arresting or detaining someone solely because of immigration status, or because of so-called immigration detainers issued by federal immigration officers, which notify local law enforcement that the Department of Homeland Security has found probable cause that the subject of the detainer is a removable alien.
Such detainers require law enforcement to hold undocumented immigrants in custody for up to 48 hours for a variety of potential infractions, long enough for federal immigration authorities to pick them up.
Federal courts have nonetheless found that detainers are not sufficient for local jails to hold someone after bail has been posted or beyond their sentence, with critics raising constitutional and liability questions for jails.
According to the 12-page complaint filed in Rockford federal court by sheriffs from McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and Kankakee counties, the plain language of the Trust Act “would prohibit Illinois law enforcement from complying with a federal immigration detainer” and “is in direct conflict with federal laws requiring cooperation between federal and state law enforcement officials.”
The sheriffs argue that the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution gives clear priority to federal authority when a state law runs counter to a federal one, positing that the preemption doctrine “applies with particular force in immigration matters because the federal government has broad, exclusive regulatory power over immigration and the status of aliens.”
The complaint ultimately makes the case that “the Trust Act puts Illinois law enforcement in an impossible position by forcing them to choose between obeying federal immigration detainers or complying with the state statute.”
This dissonance between federal and state law has resulted in lawsuits against three of the sheriffs, who were sued for violating the Trust Act by complying with federal immigration detainers, according to Monday’s complaint.
The sheriffs also pointed out that the U.S. Department of Justice has been filing lawsuits of its own against states like New Jersey and California for inhibiting local law enforcement from acting in lockstep with federal immigration regulations. Those state and local measures are often referred to as sanctuary laws.
Monday’s complaint asks the district court for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the Trust Act and a declaration that the statute is invalid and unenforceable.
The four sheriffs are represented by Dana Sarros with the Chicago office of nationwide firm Barnes & Thornburg, and their suit names Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, as its sole defendant. Sarros could not be reached for comment on the complaint after business hours Monday.
Raoul’s office also did not provide comment on the lawsuit Monday evening.
President Donald Trump has taken a famously rigid stance on what he considers a broken immigration system that fails to prevent criminal immigrants from entering the United States or deport criminals already stateside. The president has threatened to withhold public safety funds from so-called sanctuary cities like Chicago, which filed a lawsuit of its own in response.
Follow @cnsjkelly
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Los Angeles assistant prosecutor faces felony charges April 24, 2024 -
Judge blocks Montana double-voting bill April 24, 2024