Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he was ready to “stand in the way” of federal authorities if they try to circumvent Illinois law while conducting raids to deport undocumented immigrants.
Pritzker, a Democrat first elected in 2019, said his state was ready to comply with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials attempting to deport migrants convicted of crimes—but said it was “quite disturbing” that they might target law-abiding undocumented immigrants. Illinois was the target of some of the new Trump administration’s first ICE raids on Sunday, some of which were livestreamed by daytime television host Dr. Phil.
“You heard [the Trump administration] talk about something unconstitutional this year—the removal of birthright citizenship,” Pritzker told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday. “We’re going to stand in the way of an unconstitutional order. We’ll also stand in the way of them breaking the law in Illinois,” the governor said.
Illinois passed the TRUST Act in 2017, which prevents state and local law enforcement from assisting, supporting or participating in federal immigration enforcement actions without a criminal warrant. However, Pritzker said his state was ready to comply with federal officials attempting to deport migrants with criminal charges. Read more at CNN.