Illinois files lawsuit against Trump administration, accuses feds of violent ‘occupation’
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the city of Chicago sued the federal government Monday seeking restraints on immigration agents they allege have undermined the state’s sovereignty with violent acts and unlawful arrests.
“Tear gas. Chemical weapons. Rubber bullets. Masked men carrying semiautomatic rifles … as they intimidate, harass and assault,” Raoul said regarding the recent “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration crackdown.
“These hallmarks of a war zone seen on movie screens have no place in an American city, much less at a day care center, courthouse, in our neighborhoods or outside of children’s schools.”
Defendants in the federal lawsuit include the leaders of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The lawsuit asks the court to ban CBP from civil immigration enforcement in Illinois, and prohibit DHS from arresting people without warrants, using tear gas arbitrarily and other relief.
This fall, ICE and CBP were deployed to Chicago and the suburbs as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort, which he promised would reduce crime.
“They have not made our city or our state safer,” Raoul said. “They have killed one resident, shot another and conducted a military-style raid on a Chicago apartment building and detained all the residents, including children.”
He asserted that since September, federal officers had rampaged through the city and suburbs like Elgin and Aurora, acting as “occupiers,” conducting unlawful arrests, illegal interrogations and arbitrarily using tear gas on peaceful protesters.
“This is a baseless lawsuit, and we look forward to proving that in court,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded Monday.
“It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law — which is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause — and then go right back to federalizing every state responsibility possible when they get back in power. Spare us,” she added.
“The fact is that sanctuary politicians in Illinois and Chicago released violent criminals including murderers, rapists, drug dealers, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists, onto its streets and their dereliction of duty cost lives,” McLaughlin said.
Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement that “in the face of the Trump administration’s cruelty and intimidation, Illinois is standing up against the attacks on our people.”
The lawsuit contends DHS has violated the 10th Amendment, which delineates power between federal and state governments, and the Administrative Procedure Act. It asks the court to ban agents from “roving patrols” that indiscriminately stop and question people.
It also seeks to prohibit officers from entering private property without a warrant or the owner’s permission; taking biometric data like photos without consent; entering sensitive locations like courthouses and schools unless extenuating circumstances exist; and swapping out license plates of vehicles.
Suburban impact
The lawsuit cites a number of suburban incidents during “Midway Blitz,” including:
• Before dawn on Sept. 16, agents armed with rifles and grenades raided an Elgin home, which resulted in the “warrantless arrests of two U.S. citizens.”
• On Sept. 18, an Elgin Community College student was arrested by federal agents in the school parking lot.
• On Oct. 6, a College of Lake County student was arrested by federal agents outside the school’s Lakeshore campus in Waukegan.
• On Oct. 29, agents fired pepper spray at a woman’s car after she unintentionally blocked an officer’s car in an Aurora grocery store’s parking lot. The woman and her two children, ages 1 and 3, were exposed to spray and sought medical treatment.