Trump administration sues Chicago and Illinois officials for resisting deportation agenda – National & International News – THU 6Feb2025
Trump administration sues Chicago and Illinois officials for resisting immigration agenda.
Federal judge paused federal worker “buyout”.
Trump administration sues Chicago, Illinois officials for resisting immigration agenda
The Justice Department is suing Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker over state and local laws that impede enforcement of Trump’s deportation orders. In 2017, at the beginning of Trump’s first administration, Illinois passed the TRUST Act, which limits state and local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration actions.
The TRUST Act and Chicago city laws bar state and local law enforcement from detaining someone based solely on a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless there is a signed federal warrant. Chicago has similar laws on the books. These fall under the heading of so-called “sanctuary laws” passed by states and municipalities across the country.
These are the laws that the Department of Justice is challenging. In its lawsuit, DOJ alleges that Illinois officials have been “minimally enforcing- and oftentimes affirmatively thwarting” federal immigration enforcement actions.
The DOJ claims this lack of cooperation has resulted in “countless criminals being released into Chicago who should have been held for immigration removal from the United States”. The DOJ is asking the court to block enforcement of state and local sanctuary laws.
Since Trump’s re-election, officials in Illinois have vowed to resist Trump’s efforts to deport law-abiding undocumented residents. Chicago recently issued renewed guidance to law enforcement outlining when they can or cannot cooperate with federal immigration actions. The city has also mounted an information campaign to make immigrant residents aware of resources available to them.
Exceptions made for violent criminals
Republican state and local officials have called on their state to be more cooperative when it comes to enforcement actions against criminals.
While Gov. Pritzker has been vocal on his state’s commitment to protecting migrant residents, he has said he has no problem with deporting violent criminals from his state. “We don’t want them in our state; we want them out of the country,” Pritzker told CNN last month. “We hope they do get deported, and if that’s who they’re picking up, we’re all for it”.
In fact, just days after Trump’s inauguration, an ICE sweep detained hundreds of undocumented people with criminal records or charges in several states, including in Illinois.
In a statement today following news of the lawsuit, Gov. Pritzker reiterated his stance. “Illinois will defend our laws that prioritize police resources for fighting crime while enabling state law enforcement to assist with arresting violent criminals”.
Federal judge paused federal worker “buyout”
US District Judge George O’Toole in Boston has delayed the deadline for federal workers to accept a deferred resignation scheme offered by the Trump administration. The order delays the deadline to allow both sides in the lawsuit to submit arguments for a hearing on Monday.
After hearing arguments, the judge could then delay the deadline further or block the program entirely. Whichever way he rules, the losing side will almost certainly appeal, and the dispute will likely wind up before the Supreme Court eventually.
Last Tuesday, January 28th, millions of federal civilian workers received a memo offering about 7 months’ salary in return for resigning immediately. The deadline for accepting the offer was February 6.
As of today, about 60,000 workers have replied to accept the offer, about 20,000 of those in the last 24 hours or less. This would amount to about 2% of the government’s civilian workforce. In a typical year, about 6% of federal civilian workers retire. The Trump administration’s stated goal is to trim about 10% of the federal civilian workforce.
The Trump administration has also warned that federal workers who decide to stay will be subject to further review and possible termination. The criteria for termination is not clear, but a memo from the Office of Personnel Management said they were “developing new performance metrics for evaluating the federal workforce that aligns with the priorities and standards” of President Donald Trump.
Judge O’Toole granted today’s pause at the request of labor unions representing federal civilian workers who had sued to halt the deferred resignation initiative. The unions and Democratic lawmakers say that the initiative violates several laws regarding federal employment. They also have warned workers who are considering the offer that the payments are not guaranteed and may in fact end on March 14.
