National Immigrant Justice Center and Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Respond to Trump’s Attacks on Sanctuary Laws
As immigrant rights organizations who together have served our Illinois and Chicago communities for more than four decades, the National Immigrant Justice Center and Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights stand with the State of Illinois, City of Chicago, and Cook County as they face recycled and unsupported legal attacks from the Trump administration regarding their constitutionally sound policies to not participate in civil immigration matters.
The Illinois TRUST Act and Chicago’s and Cook County’s Welcoming ordinances became law with strong bipartisan support from legislators because they make our communities safer. These laws have provided peace of mind to our diverse immigrant communities that if they need help in an emergency or are a victim of a crime, they can call for help without fear of deportation. Law enforcement agencies throughout the country have supported these types of laws for many years, and know that involving local police in federal deportation efforts not only strains their agencies’ own capacity to address public safety concerns, but also degrades community trust.
Illinoisans and Chicagoans are proud that our home has long been a destination for immigrants and refugees. It means that our state and city are places where families can reunite and, for some, move past trauma and persecution they left behind in their homelands. People move here from around the world for the opportunity to rebuild their families, businesses, and sense of community in safety. Our neighborhoods, families, economy, and culture stand to lose too much if we capitulate to the Trump administration’s mass deportation machine.
The Trump administration must stop playing politics with immigrants’ lives in its campaign to divide Americans. Our state, city, and county are well within their constitutional prerogative to set our public safety priorities and policies.