Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced that he has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, due to their “unlawful” actions.
The complaint details the various ways in which the Trump administration allegedly aimed to “coerce Illinois over policy differences, including by unlawfully withholding federal funds and attempting to deploy the Illinois and Texas National Guards in the state,” Raoul’s office said.
“The occupation of Illinois and Chicago is intended to coerce Plaintiffs to abandon their policies, which value and respect the State’s immigrants, and devote their resources to further the immigration policies of the current administration,” the lawsuit argues, later adding, “Illinois and Chicago seek to vindicate their sovereign authority to govern, grow, and maintain public order and stability against an unchecked federal government seeking to coerce Illinois and Chicago to do its bidding through brute force.”
According to the complaint, illegal enforcement policies include patrols and interrogations, biometric scans, tear gas, conducting enforcement operations at schools, courthouses, and other sites, and other measures.
“Border Patrol agents and ICE officers have acted as occupiers rather than officers of the law,” Raoul said in a statement. “They randomly, and often violently, question residents. Without warrants or probable cause, they brutally detain citizens and non-citizens alike. They use tear gas and other chemical weapons against bystanders, injuring dozens, including children, the elderly and local police officers. I filed this lawsuit to stand up for the safety of the people of Illinois and the sovereignty of our state.”
A recent law signed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker limits the activities of federal immigration agents. The legislation, HB 1312, allows “any person to bring a civil action against any person who, while conducting civil immigration enforcement, knowingly engages in conduct that violates the Illinois Constitution or the United States Constitution,” a bill summary states.
