Copyright Chicago Tribune
Amid increased public calls for Illinois elected officials to more strongly push back against the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent crackdown on undocumented people in the Chicago region, state lawmakers on Thursday proposed trying to formally ban federal agents from arresting people near courthouses and allowing lawsuits if individuals’ rights have been violated in civil immigration arrests. Even the measure’s key sponsor, Senate President Don Harmon, called the bill “imperfect,” but he said Democratic lawmakers in Springfield felt the need to act, as state and local officials have often felt hamstrung in countering the federal government’s often-aggressive tactics. “I’m prepared for this law to be challenged, but I think we still have an obligation to try to do something,” Harmon of Oak Park told a committee hearing in Springfield Thursday. “There is no need for the same people who are charged with protecting our constitutional rights to violate our constitutional rights in the process.” Under the bill discussed in committee, individuals could sue officers for knowingly violating the state or U.S. Constitution during civil immigration enforcement. The bill would also codify a 1,000-foot “safe zone” around courthouses, free from civil arrests, in an attempt to limit potential disruptions to court activities. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol enforcement activities in Chicago and the surrounding areas have come under increased scrutiny and criticism. In what the federal government has described as an initiative to deport the “worst of the worst” individuals who lack legal status, agents have repeatedly detained people first and sought information about them later, without immediate regard for citizenship or legal status. The bill, as of Thursday afternoon, still needed to pass out of both chambers of the General Assembly, which is on its last day of the fall legislative session. While the governor and lawmakers have used their bully pulpits to push back, and some legislators have at times taken an activist role themselves in opposition to the federal actions, the statehouse has little formal role in immigration policy. In a sign of lawmakers’ frustration with the federal agents’ tactics, damages under the lawsuit provision could go up due to various factors. They include whether the defendant wore a mask; used crowd control equipment like tear gas; failed to identify themselves as a law enforcement officer; used a vehicle without an Illinois license plate; or failed to turn on a necessary body camera — all behaviors advocates and Democratic lawmakers have accused immigration agents of since the start of the Trump administration’s so-called “Operation Midway Blitz.” Violators who arrest individuals improperly at or near a courthouse would face civil damages for false imprisonment and $10,000 in statutory damages, according to the bill. A judge can also issue an order preventing arrest under the provision, the bill said. In addition to the provisions on courts and private actions, the bill also asks hospitals, daycare centers and higher education institutions to put policies on the books about how they would respond to the presence of federal immigration agents, following incidents of ICE activity at or near some of those locations across the Chicago area. It would also largely prohibit hospitals, daycare centers and higher education institutions from disclosing immigration statuses of patients, clients and students. Hospitals would be fined $500 per day for noncompliance if they fail to meet the deadlines for developing their policies during the first quarter of next year. The higher education provisions on immigration status could be enforced through private lawsuits. And violations of the daycare policy requirement would result in a licensing violation, according to the bill. Democratic state Sen. Omar Aquino of Chicago sponsored the daycare provisions after his child’s daycare center went into lockdown because of nearby immigration enforcement activity, he said. “Our kids were fine, but families were in fear because they didn’t know what to do,” Aquino said. “Here in the state, we must do something to make sure that no family feels that way.” The package put forward this week doesn’t include a ban on masks for federal officers, as California enacted, or any expansions of Illinois’ existing law that generally bans local law enforcement from cooperating on civil immigration actions. At a subject matter hearing on the legislation Thursday, representatives from local law enforcement pushed back on parts of the legislation, including the private right of action for constitutional violations, over concerns that local officers could get swept up. “There’s going to be frivolous litigation that will be filed against state and local law enforcement officers,” even if it’s eventually thrown out, said Jim Kaitschuk, executive director of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association. Pritzker, for his part, on Thursday in his ceremonial Springfield office, called on top federal immigration officials, including Border Patrol boss Greg Bovino, to pause their activities for the Halloween weekend. “Mr. Bovino, your operation has sown fear and division and chaos among law-abiding residents in our communities,” Pritzker said. “No child in America should have to go trick-or-treating in fear that they might be confronted with armed federal agents and have to inhale tear gas.” At a news conference in Gary, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem dismissed Pritzker’s call for the Halloween pause. “The fact that Gov. Pritzker is asking for that is shameful and I think unfortunate that he doesn’t recognize how important the work is that we do to make sure we’re bringing criminals to justice and getting them off our streets – especially when we’re going to send all of our kiddos out on the streets and going to events and enjoying the holiday season. We want to make sure that they’re safe,” she said. Tribune reporter Rick Pearson contributed.
