A novel Trump administration lawsuit against the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago, and Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been thrown out by a federal judge in Illinois.
Trump was seeking to void these jurisdictions' "sanctuary laws," a term for a broad group of policies that generally prohibit state and local law enforcement from assisting with federal immigration investigations without being compelled by a warrant. A number of states and cities around the country have similar laws and policies in place.
The administration argued that federal immigration law, particularly the Immigration and Nationality Act, preempts Illinois' sanctuary policies and violates the intergovernmental immunity doctrine. The administration further argued that Illinois was engaged in discrimination against immigration agents by refusing to work with them.
U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, rejected these arguments in her opinion.
"The Sanctuary Policies reflect Defendants’ decision to not participate in enforcing civil immigration law — a decision protected by the Tenth Amendment and not preempted by the INA," wrote Jenkins. "Finding that these same Policy provisions constitute discrimination or impermissible regulation would provide an end-run around the Tenth Amendment. It would allow the federal government to commandeer States under the guise of intergovernmental immunity — the exact type of direct regulation of states barred by the Tenth Amendment."
"The intergovernmental immunity doctrine cannot be used to circumvent the Constitution in such a way. Because the Tenth Amendment protects Defendants’ Sanctuary Policies, those Policies cannot be found to discriminate against or regulate the federal government," Jenkins concluded.
The Trump administration has vowed to fight sanctuary policies from the outset, publishing a list in May of more than 100 supposed sanctuary jurisdictions, which drew immediate protest as even some Trump-supporting cities and counties were erroneously included on the list.
