The Justice Department sued the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago and other local jurisdictions alleging their laws are standing in the way of the Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement in the area, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.
In the Trump administration’s first legal bid to stave off local efforts to impede immigration operations, federal officials are asking a judge to bar the Illinois, Chicago, Cook County and the Cook County Sheriff from using local laws that protect migrants to hamper law enforcement.
The Justice Department said certain state and local provisions are “designed to and in fact interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law” and accused local officials of working to obstruct federal efforts to curb illegal migration, allegations state officials dispute.
According to the complaint, more than 13,000 undocumented migrants were arrested by immigration officials in Illinois between 2016 and 2025.
