The United States Department of Justice on Thursday sued Illinois and the city of Chicago, accusing them of impeding the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
The Justice Department, while citing a national emergency declared by President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day, is seeking to block the enforcement of several state and local laws that interfere with and discriminate against the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration law.
Media Talk Africa reports that the complaint was filed in a Chicago federal court.
Chicago’s mayor and the state attorney general have not yet commented on the development.
Recall that Trump has pledged to deport millions of people who are in the country illegally and is expected to rely on cooperation with local law enforcement to help with the effort.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday issued a memo that said sanctuary jurisdictions should not receive federal Justice Department grants and the department should take actions against jurisdictions that impede immigration enforcement.
Also, Massachusetts’ new top federal prosecutor on Wednesday vowed to probe local officials if they obstruct the Trump administration’s ramped up immigration arrests, saying no one gets a pass.
