TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUES ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO OVER IMMIGRATION POLICIES
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The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against Illinois and Chicago, arguing that their immigration policies are illegally blocking efforts to deport undocumented migrants .
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, targets Chicago’s sanctuary city policies, which prevent police from arresting people based on their immigration status and limit the information they share with federal authorities.
The administration claims that these policies violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which states that federal laws take priority over conflicting state laws.
The lawsuit seeks to ban these measures and allow for greater cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
This move is part of Trump’s broader efforts to reshape immigration and citizenship policies in the United States.
However, the administration’s actions have faced significant legal hurdles, including a recent ruling by a Seattle judge that Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship through an executive order is unconstitutional.
Other major cities with large immigrant communities, such as Los Angeles and New York, have similar sanctuary city policies in place.
“Further exacerbating this national crisis, some of these aliens find safe havens from federal law enforcement detection in so-called Sanctuary Cities where they live and work among innocent Americans, who may later become their crime victims,” the filing states.
Trump has repeatedly asserted that undocumented migrants are disproportionately responsible for crime, despite research showing US citizens commit more offences per capita.
The lawsuit, filed in an Illinois court, calls for an injunction on the enforcement of the measures on the basis that they violate the supremacy of federal law.
Trump, who has vowed large-scale deportations of illegal migrants, has long promised legal action against sanctuary states and cities, which are largely Democrat-led.
“Sanctuary cities are sanctuary for criminals,” Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told reporters at the White House.
“We’re going to hold sanctuary cities accountable.”
A spokesman for the office of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said they “look forward” to challenging the lawsuit in court.
“Unlike Donald Trump, Illinois follows the law,” a statement said.
Rule of law
In Seattle, a federal judge extended an earlier injunction on an executive order Trump signed during his first week in office that would have overturned the more-than-century old practice of granting citizenship to everyone born on US soil.
US District Judge John Coughenour, hearing a case brought by several states and civil rights groups, said the order was unconstitutional and chided what he said was a lawless executive.
“It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals,” said Coughenour, an appointee of Republican former president Ronald Reagan.
“The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain.”
Trump’s order attempted to redefine the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the US, claiming the right does not apply to the children of anyone other than permanent residents and citizens.
Coughenour said the Constitution is clear.
“If the government wants to change the exceptional American grant of birthright citizenship, it needs to amend the Constitution itself,” he said.
“That’s how our constitution works, and that’s how the rule of law works.”
Coughenour’s ruling came the day after a federal judge in Maryland also issued a nationwide injunction on the executive order.
The outcome of this lawsuit could have significant implications for immigration policies across the United States.
