Trump administration's lawsuit over Chicago's sanctuary city policies tossed by federal judge
The Justice Department sued Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago — along with several state and local officials, including Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson — in February, arguing their sanctuary laws 'interfere' with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) ability to arrest and deport illegal migrants.
District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, concluded that sanctuary policies — which prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal authorities on immigration enforcement — are protected by the 10th Amendment.
6 Federal agents detain a protester attempting to block US ICE agents from entering a building housing an immigration court in Chicago, Ill. on June 16, 2025.
REUTERS
'[T]he Sanctuary Policies reflect Defendants' decision to not participate in enforcing civil immigration law — a decision protected by the Tenth Amendment and not preempted by [federal immigration laws],' Jenkins wrote in her 64-page ruling.
'Finding that these same Policy provisions constitute discrimination or impermissible regulation would provide an end-run around the Tenth Amendment,' the judge continued. '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.'
Jenkins also determined that the Trump administration lacked standing to sue the 'individual defendants' named in the case, such as Pritzker and Cook.
She dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning the Trump administration may amend its complaint if it wishes to continue litigating the issue.
In their lawsuit, the Trump administration singled out the Illinois Trust Act and Chicago's Welcoming City ordinance.
6 President Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside the White House on July 25, 2025.
Ron Sachs/CNP / SplashNews.com
The Trust Act declares that 'State law does not currently grant State or local law enforcement the authority to enforce federal civil immigration laws,' while the Welcoming City ordinance emphatically states, 'No agency or agent shall: arrest, detain or continue to detain a person solely on the belief that the person is not present legally in the United States.'
Pritzker and Johnson celebrated the judge's ruling.
'Illinois just beat the Trump Administration in federal court,' the governor wrote on X. 'Their case challenging the bipartisan TRUST Act was dismissed — unlike the President, we follow the law and listen to the courts.'
6 Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks after a meeting in the governor's office in Chicago on April 7, 2023.
Getty Images
Meanwhile, Johnson tweeted that the ruling 'affirms what we have long known: that Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance is lawful and supports public safety.'
'Chicago cannot be compelled to cooperate with the Trump Administration's reckless and inhumane immigration agenda,' the mayor added. 'Our city is safer when local law enforcement can focus on the needs of Chicagoans.'
6 Lindsay C. Jenkins, US district judge for the Northern District of Illinois nominee, testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Oct. 12, 2022.
REUTERS
6 Protesters hold up a sign opposing President Trump outside Trump Tower in Chicago during a rally on Jan. 20, 2025.
AP
The ruling is a setback to the Trump administration, which earlier this week sued New York City and Mayor Eric Adams over Gotham's sanctuary city policies — similarly arguing that rules limiting the NYPD's and other law enforcement agencies' cooperation with federal immigration enforcement are unconstitutional.
The move came after two illegal migrants allegedly shot an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer in the face in a Manhattan park.
Attorney General Pam Bondi filed suit against Chicago and the state of Illinois on her first day on the job at DOJ.
6 Federal agents hold back a protester during an ICE exercise outside an immigration court in Chicago on June 16, 2025.
REUTERS
Bondi teased that the lawsuit would be the first of several going after sanctuary policies in Democrat-run states and cities.
'If you are a leader of a state or local jurisdiction that obstructs or impedes federal law enforcement, you will be next,' Bondi said in February.
The DOJ has since filed lawsuits against New York City, Los Angeles, Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken over sanctuary laws.
The White House and DOJ did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
16 minutes ago
- The Hill
Van Hollen: ‘A big lie' that UN aid for Gaza has been ‘systematically' stolen by Hamas
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Sunday there is no truth to claims that United Nations aid for Palestinians in Gaza has been 'systematically' stolen by Hamas. 'This is a big lie, the claim that when the U.N. organizations were delivering food to Palestinians, civilians, that it was being systematically diverted to Hamas,' Van Hollen told CBS News's Margaret Brennan on 'Face the Nation.' 'I want to say loudly and clearly, this is a big lie,' the Maryland senator added. On Sunday, Trump said Hamas is stealing food that was meant for people in Gaza, saying to reporters on multiple occasions that goods are being stolen as he was pressed on the hunger crisis in the region. Trump, alongside President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland, was questioned about his response to the images of starving children in Gaza. 'When I see the children and when I see, especially over the last couple of weeks people are stealing the food, they're stealing the money, they're stealing the money for the food. They're stealing weapons, they're stealing everything,' the president said. 'It's a mess, that whole place is a mess. The Gaza Strip, you know it was given many years ago so they could have peace. That didn't work out too well,' Trump continued. House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed Trump on Sunday's 'Meet the Press' on NBC News. 'This is important to note: Israel, since this war began, has supplied over 94,000 truckloads full of food. It's enough food to feed 2 million people for two years trying to get that into Gaza. But Hamas has stolen the food, a huge amount,' Johnson said. He also criticized 'the system,' calling it 'broken,' adding that beginning tomorrow, the Israeli military will open 'new channels of distribution to get it [food] to those people who are desperately in need.' Former President Obama said on Sunday that 'aid must be permitted to reach people in Gaza.' 'There is no justification for keeping food and water away from civilian families,' the former president added in a post on the social platform X on Sunday.
Boston Globe
16 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
'Relieved': Educators await Trump administration to release $6 billion in frozen funding
Advertisement The Trump administration announced the funding freeze on June 30, a day before the money was supposed to be sent to school districts in both New England and across the nation. It was another move toward the White House's goal to dismantle the Education Department, as President Trump argues that classrooms are teaching left-wing ideology. In Massachusetts, the freeze translated into $108 million withheld, leaving many districts scrambling to ensure they could still provide services during the summer months and the upcoming fall semester, with some cancelling summer programs entirely. In addition to training educators Advertisement Ray Hart, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a nationwide association of urban districts that includes Boston, said in a statement they're 'relieved' about the administration releasing the funds 'for the benefit of schoolchildren throughout our nation.' In Rhode Island, education commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said, 'On behalf of Rhode Island's students, families, and teachers,' it is 'relieved to hear that the congressionally approved education funding is set to be released.' The Education Department 'will begin dispersing funds to states next week,' said Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the department, in a statement Friday. Biedermann said the Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the grants and directed the Education Department to release the funding. The move comes after the District of Columbia and 24 states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine, 'It is impossible for states to effectively budget for an upcoming school year ... when the president takes the football away from us, like Lucy in a Charlie Brown cartoon,' said Peter Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General, at a press conference announcing the lawsuit earlier this month. Related : A coalition of school districts and teachers' unions, including the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, and Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, were among the politicians who criticized the freeze and demanded the administration release the money. Advertisement 'Every day that goes by without this education funding hurts our students, educators, and communities,' said Pedro Martinez, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department for Elementary and Secondary Education, in a statement Thursday. 'We are still recovering from pandemic learning loss, and these federal funds are directly related to improving student academic achievement.' In early July, Governor Maura Healey said in a statement that districts would be forced to lay off staff, delay or cancel programs, and disrupt learning. 'Our schools were promised this funding, and the Trump Administration needs to deliver it,' Healey said. In a survey by the School Superintendents Association, about three-quarters said they would cut academic programs, and half said they would lay off teachers if funding was not restored. In a statement, the executive director of the association, David Schuler, said he was 'pleased' with the news of the funding being released. Some programs saw an immediate, negative impact following the freeze, including the The program, which has operated in Massachusetts since 1966, aims to address the toll on children's education caused by the frequent moves, as students transfer between different school districts or miss school altogether to work alongside their parents. In Springfield, 9-year-old Ery Perez Gutierrez last summer focused on sharpening his academic skills at Advertisement Ery is among hundreds of children in Massachusetts spending the summer at home because of the funding freeze. President Trump had proposed cutting the Migrant Education Program altogether in the next Last year, the grant served 438 students for summer programs statewide, said Emily Hoffman, director of the program in Massachusetts. The loss of the program at Boland Elementary is 'heartbreaking' and a 'huge step backwards,' as students are going without much-needed services, said Lisa Bakowski, the school's principal, who oversaw the program for the past three summers. Bakowski said the children enrolled in the program are among the most vulnerable in the community. Their parents work in the fields all day and often don't speak English. 'It sickens me that it's become a political issue when it really should never have been,' Bakowski said. 'It's about the betterment of humanity and being able to work to assist and provide for pockets of our community that need it.' Related : Other programs targeted in the freeze weren't immediately impacted. The largest grant frozen, known as Advertisement In previous years, Boston Public Schools used the funding to provide additional support for the district's recruitment efforts and educator preparation, including through an intensive 12-month program that prepares aspiring teachers to enter the classroom at no cost to them. Following the freeze announcement, BPS 'identified temporary one-time funding to maintain these efforts, which will continue in Fiscal Year 2026 despite the funding freeze with the hopes that the funding will eventually be available,' a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. Massachusetts districts received $27 million in fiscal year 2025 for teacher training, with BPS receiving about Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
New York City mayoral race: Andrew Cuomo says young voters have ‘real issues' worth hearing
Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, speaks to CNN's Gloria Pazmino about his independent bid for New York City mayor.
