The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago, and Cook County over their sanctuary policies regarding undocumented immigrants. The lawsuit argues that these local laws obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration policies and hinder cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement. According to the legal filing, the federal government has the exclusive authority to regulate immigration, making state and local efforts to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities unlawful.
The lawsuit is built upon legal theories previously used by the Obama administration in a 2010 case against Arizona’s S.B. 1070, commonly known as the “show me your papers” law. That case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012, resulting in a ruling that struck down key provisions of the Arizona law on the grounds that they conflicted with federal immigration statutes. The ruling reaffirmed that the federal government has exclusive authority over immigration policy, limiting the ability of individual states to enforce their own immigration-related laws that contradict federal directives.
The legal argument in the newly filed lawsuit closely mirrors the reasoning used in the 2012 Supreme Court case. The lawsuit states that the federal government’s authority to regulate immigration is derived from the U.S. Constitution, congressional legislation, and binding Supreme Court precedent. The filing further contends that certain officials in Illinois have intentionally sought to undermine federal immigration enforcement, particularly in response to a recent executive order that frames illegal immigration as a crisis.
The lawsuit emphasizes concerns that sanctuary policies provide safe havens for undocumented immigrants, allowing them to live and work in communities while avoiding detection by federal authorities. It argues that these policies could potentially expose law-abiding residents to criminal activity by individuals who might otherwise be apprehended and removed from the country.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has taken legal action against a state over sanctuary policies. A similar lawsuit was filed in 2018 against California, which also had laws limiting state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. However, that case was ultimately unsuccessful, as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of California, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
Interestingly, the language used in the lawsuit against Illinois is nearly identical to that of the previous legal challenge against California. Both lawsuits cite the broad authority of the federal government in setting immigration laws and argue that states cannot obstruct or take discriminatory actions against the execution of these laws.
The shifting legal landscape surrounding immigration policy has seen different administrations take opposing stances on federal versus state authority. During the previous Democratic administration, legal challenges sought to curb state efforts to impose stricter immigration enforcement measures. Conversely, conservative-led states in recent years have challenged the federal government’s role in immigration enforcement, often seeking to assert greater state authority in regulating undocumented immigrants within their borders.
With the latest lawsuit, the federal government is once again asserting its supremacy in immigration matters, hoping to overturn sanctuary policies that it sees as obstructive. While past legal precedents favor federal authority in immigration law, it remains to be seen whether the courts will rule differently in this case. If successful, the lawsuit could set a new precedent that limits the ability of states and localities to adopt sanctuary policies that protect undocumented immigrants from federal enforcement efforts.
