Biden-appointed judge tosses lawsuit against sanctuary city Chicago

A federal judge on Friday tossed out a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to strike down sanctuary policies in Chicago and the entire state of Illinois.

Judge Lindsay Jenkins of the Northern District of Illinois, appointed to the bench by former President Joe Biden, dismissed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit against Chicago, Cook County and Illinois, according to court documents. The Trump administration was seeking to block policies that prohibited cooperation between local government officials and federal immigration authorities.

In her ruling, Jenkins claimed that the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution — which protects individuals from government overreach — also protects government officials’ right to refuse to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or other federal immigration authorities.

“[If] the State, County, and City cannot control whether and how their employees share information with the federal government, they cannot affirmatively opt-out of enforcing federal immigration laws,” Jenkins wrote.

“This conflicts with the guiding principle of anticommandeering: knowing and voluntary cooperation,” the Biden-appointed judge continued.

The ruling marks a setback for the Trump administration, which has gone to war with a spate of major sanctuary jurisdictions since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

The DOJ on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other top city officials over local policies preventing cooperation between ICE and law enforcement. That lawsuit was just the latest in the Trump administration’s legal fight against sanctuary laws in Los Angeles, Colorado, several New Jersey cities and elsewhere.

The White House’s hardline stance against anti-ICE policies have notched some wins in the past days. Under pressure from being placed on the administration’s sanctuary cities list, the mayor of Louisville announced Tuesday that his city would begin cooperating better with federal immigration authorities.

The DOJ’s lawsuit in Illinois — filed in February — took specific aim at the Illinois Way Forward Act and TRUST Act which impedes the federal government’s ability to perform immigration enforcement actions. Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance and Cook County’s Policy for Responding to ICE Detainers were also singled out in the lawsuit.

Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson celebrated the court ruling in a Friday statement.

“This ruling affirms what we have long known: that Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance is lawful and supports public safety,” Johnson stated. “The City cannot be compelled to cooperate with the Trump Administration’s reckless and inhumane immigration agenda.”

Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also welcomed the ruling, writing in a post to X on Friday that “Illinois just beat the Trump Administration in federal court.”

Latest posts by Jason Hopkins (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.