SPRINGFIELD — Christening it as part of a “nation-leading” response to aggressive federal immigration raids, Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Tuesday allowing Illinois residents to sue immigration agents who arrest them in or near courthouses or if they believe their constitutional rights were violated.
The new law — which lawmakers have acknowledged is likely to face a legal challenge — also requires public colleges and universities, hospitals and child care facilities to set up policies for dealing with immigration enforcement and mostly prohibits them from disclosing the immigration status of students, patients, parents and children.
“Together, we’re sending a message to Donald Trump, to Kristi Noem, to Gregory Bovino and anyone else seeking to terrorize our people: Your divisiveness and your brutality are not welcome here,” Pritzker said, surrounded by state lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
“We know that this new set of laws can’t mitigate all of the harm, but it gives us new protective tools and is a symbol of our shared action against those terrorizing, our communities and our state,” Pritzker said.
Response to ‘Midway Blitz’
The Democrat-led state legislature passed the bill in late October during the height of the federal immigration enforcement campaign known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The Department of Homeland Security said the operation, which launched in September and wound down last month, resulted in the arrest of more than 3,000 immigrants who were living in Chicago and its suburbs without legal permission.
Though federal officials claimed they were targeting the “worst of the worst,” DHS data indicates that most arrested had no prior criminal convictions or pending charges.
The raids often led to violent confrontations between masked federal agents and protestors during various operations in the city and suburbs, including near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in suburban Broadview. Many of these skirmishes resulted in the deployment of tear gas and other chemical agents.
Bovino and about 200 Border Patrol agents under his command left Chicago for southern states last month, though they could be back fourfold this March, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said the law “sends the message that if you abuse your authority, there are consequences.”
“Our rights follow us into the courthouse, onto campus, to the hospital and when taking our kids to day care,” Harmon said. “No one gets to take them away. We are providing the victims of this chaotic federal assault a clear, legal path to go after their abusers and hold them accountable.”
With Pritzker’s signature, all people attending court are considered “privileged from civil arrest” inside state courthouses and within a 1,000-foot buffer zone outside of the buildings.
Though there had long been a de facto understanding that such facilities were off-limits for immigration enforcement, they have increasingly been the site of apprehensions over the past year. Those who violate the act could be liable for statutory damages of $10,000.
It gives people arrested under those circumstances the right to sue the agents who detained them.
Criticisms and potential challenge
The law also allows residents to sue immigration agents for violating their constitutional right to due process and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
They would be able to collect punitive damages that can increase if the agents are wearing masks, concealing their identities, failing to wear body cameras or using a vehicle with a non-Illinois or obscured license plate.
Illinois Republicans have criticized the provision, arguing that it would have unintended consequences for state and local law enforcement. It also likely invites a legal challenge from the Trump Administration on the grounds that it violates the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLauglin told Capitol News Illinois in an emailed statement that Pritzker “must be unfamiliar with the U.S. Constitution.”
“By signing this law, Pritzker violated the supremacy clause, his oath he took as governor to ‘support the Constitution of the United States’ — which itself falls under the oaths clause of the Constitution,” McLaughlin said. “We hope the headlines, social media likes, and fundraising emails he did this for are worth it!”
Harmon acknowledged in October that the law would likely be challenged, though Pritzker — one of Trump’s most pugnacious critics and seen as a potential 2028 Democratic candidate for president — said Tuesday that he believed it to be “in good shape.”
“Whenever you enact something that is tough, that is about protecting people, there are going to be people out there who attack it,” Pritzker said. “No doubt they have the ability to go to court about it. But I believe this is not just a good law, but a great law.”
Day cares, colleges and hospitals
The law requires all general acute care hospitals to implement a policy for interactions with law enforcement by Jan. 1. All other hospitals need a plan in place by March 1.
Illinois colleges and universities will need to have procedures in place for approving requests from law enforcement agents attempting to enter campus by the new year.
The law also prohibits day care centers from sharing the immigration status of children or parents unless required by law. It also requires the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and Illinois Department of Early Childhood to provide “know your rights” materials and preparedness plans to families on their websites.
Day cares will also need to adopt plans for interacting with law enforcement agents and notifying parents if agents request a child’s information.
State Rep. Norma Hernandez, D-Melrose Park, said that the fatal shooting of unarmed father and Mexican immigrant Silverio Villegas González in September by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer after dropping off his two young sons at school and day care in the Chicago area “reminds us why this law matters so deeply.”
“His death was not an isolated tragedy,” Hernandez said. “It is a painful reminder that without strong protections, everyday life becomes a place of danger, and that is where we are right now.”
In addition to the law, Pritzker signed an executive order in October creating the Illinois Accountability Commission, which has been tasked with producing a public record of alleged abuses perpetrated by federal agents during “Operation Midway Blitz.”
It will also examine the impact of such conduct on Illinois residents and communities and offer recommendations for accountability and reform.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.