Attorney General Pam Bondi has told Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle that their "sanctuary" policies must end immediately.
Bondi gave the Illinois leaders, all Democrats, until Tuesday, Aug. 19, to prove they were complying with federal law and lay out "the immediate initiatives you are taking to eliminate laws, policies and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement."
But the Illinois lawmakers are pushing back. Ann Spillane, general counsel to Pritzker, wrote a letter back to Bondi noting that Illinois follows the law.
"While we cooperate with federal law enforcement to arrest violent criminals, neither federal law, nor sound public policy, requires our state to divert resources away from community safety and towards civil immigration enforcement," Spillane wrote. "Unfortunately, based on recent events, we have not observed that type of coordination with local law enforcement in Washington, D.C., or Los Angeles, California."
Johnson's office said the Chicago Police Department "works every day to hold violent offenders accountable, regardless of their immigration status" and works with federal law enforcement "on a wide variety of public safety efforts related to reducing violence and taking guns off our streets."
"The mayor has repeatedly called for additional federal funding for the programs that work to reduce violent crime, including the release of the $800M+ in funding for violence prevention that was recently cut by the Trump administration," the office said in a statement.
In an interview, Bondi said they would cut Illinois' federal funding and send in federal law enforcement like they did in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
"If they're not going to keep their citizens safe, [President] Donald Trump will keep them safe," Bondi said on FOX Business.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.