Justice Department sues Illinois, Chicago over immigration enforcement

The Justice Department sued the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago on Thursday, accusing them of impeding the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The department seeks a court order to bar protections for immigrants that exist at the state and local level.

The lawsuit appears to be the first that the Justice Department has filed after vowing to investigate state and local officials for allegedly interfering with President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove warned in a memo during the first days of the Trump administration that officials in so-called sanctuary cities could face legal action if they undermine federal immigration laws.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois alleges that multiple state and local laws are “designed to and in fact interfere with and discriminate against the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law.”