Politics
Blue State Lawmakers Defy Feds, Pass Bill ‘Banning’ Immigration Arrests Near Courthouses
Illinois lawmakers have passed a bill that seeks to “ban” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting civil arrests in or near state courthouses, setting up a legal fight with the Trump Administration.
Approved early Friday along party lines, the legislation creates a 1,000-foot “safe zone” around court buildings, parking lots, sidewalks, and entryways where individuals attending hearings — as parties, witnesses, or supporters — cannot be detained for immigration purposes. It also empowers private lawsuits against federal agents for alleged constitutional violations during such arrests, with potential $10,000 statutory damages for false imprisonment and additional penalties for aggravating factors like masked agents or excessive force.
The bill extends similar policy requirements to hospitals, daycares, and colleges, mandating they draft protocols for handling ICE presence. Democrat sponsors, including Senate President Don Harmon and Senator Celina Villanueva, framed enforcement of basic immigration law as an authoritarian overreach on the part of the federal government.
“No one should have to choose between seeking justice and risking their freedom,” Villanueva argued, claiming that fear of ICE ambushes turns courthouses into “sites of intimidation.”
The lawmaker conceded that the move will certainly be met with legal challenges and could very likely be struck down in court, however. “The courts are stacked against us… the federal government can try to remove it from state courts to federal courts [or] substitute the government itself for the individual defendants,” he said.
The legislation stems from a day one directive from President Trump that rescinded Biden-era “sensitive locations” protections that had limited ICE operations in courthouses since 2021.
Early this month, a chief judge in Cook County, which encompasses Chicago, issued an order blocking immigration arrests at county courthouses, citing concerns about “fear or obstruction” while noncitizens attend court proceedings. The order prohibits immigration authorities from making civil arrests of any “party, witness, or potential witness” during court appearances, Fox News reported.
The federal government, however, contended that “there are no legal sanctuaries where you can hide and avoid the consequences for breaking the law.”
ICE insists arrests target public-safety threats, not routine attendees, and federal supremacy likely dooms state bans. For example, agents have been able to skirt a similar “ban” in California by simply waiting outside.
In Connecticut, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Raheem Mullins issued an order in September banning warrantless arrests inside state courts. It also bars agents from using face coverings while making arrests, something that is currently being challenged in court.
The bill invites Supremacy Clause clashes, with DHS poised to argue states cannot obstruct federal immigration authority—a view upheld in past sanctuary-city rulings. Anticipated suits from ACLU affiliates and immigrant groups already challenge the 2025 directive as “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act, alleging due-process violations and alleged First Amendment violations.
