The Justice Department claimed that state and local officials were breaking the Constitution by implementing so-called sanctuary policies that restrict collaboration with immigration agents, but a federal court in Illinois dropped the case on Friday.
The Justice Department pursued many lawsuits challenging immigration policy in Democratic-led areas, including this one, which was filed early in Mr. Trump’s administration. The Trump administration filed a similar lawsuit against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday.
The governor, the mayor and police superintendent of Chicago, and the sheriff and board president of Cook County were also named as defendants in the Illinois complaint.
Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins dismissed the lawsuit, stating that the Justice Department had not proven that the local and state governments were breaking federal law.
Judge Jenkins, who was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., stated that sanctuary policies cannot be found to discriminate against or regulate the federal government because the Tenth Amendment protects defendants’ sanctuary policies.
A request for comment on the decision was not immediately answered by Justice Department representatives. Requests for reaction from county and state officials were also not immediately answered. The decision was praised by city leaders.
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