The ACLU of Illinois is criticizing a joint lawsuit filed by Kankakee, Ogle, Stephenson, and McHenry County sheriffs who are seeking an injunction against the Trust Act. Several of those counties have been sued for alleged violations of the Trust Act. The Illinois Trust Act, signed into law in 2017, restricts law enforcement officials from detaining a person based solely on their immigration status.
ACLU spokesperson Ed Yohnka described the lawsuit as an attempt to retroactively justify previous alleged violations of the law. Yohnka expressed concern over the sheriffs’ decisions to sue describing the suit as an attempt to make policy. He said, “It is akin to me saying, ‘I don't like the speed limit being 70 and I'm going to go as fast as I want. And if the police pull me over, I'm going to sue them for interrupting my trip.’ That's effectively what this lawsuit is.”
The sheriffs’ spokesman, Dave Devane rejected the idea that the request for the injunction was in response to previous suits lobbed against individual counties. In a statement to WNIJ, Devane stated, “The idea for this lawsuit dates back to August 2017, when then Gov. Rauner signed it into law." He continued, "This challenge has nothing to do with the ACLU's litigation.”
Devane reiterated the sheriffs’ claim that the law prevents them from protecting their communities. He said, “The practical effects are that individual illegal aliens, including some recently released from prison following the completion of their sentences, will continue to be released directly to Illinois communities without the federal government having the opportunity to review their circumstances and the threats they may pose to the public…the plaintiffs and other Illinois sheriffs have been required to release potentially dangerous inmates on a virtually daily basis.”
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) pays detention centers $95 a day for holding detainees. Kankakee County and McHenry County both house some federal inmates, including ICE detainees.
In 2017, Kankakee County received millions dollars in reimbursements from the federal government for inmate bed rental. The McHenry County Sheriff Department was on track to receive over $10 million in reimbursements from the federal government in 2018, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Many of the inmates detained on behalf of the federal government were detained for immigration violations.
When asked about the financial incentive for counties to hold federal detainees, Yohnka expressed further skepticism regarding the lawsuit.
“When you look at that, it's a little hard not to reach the conclusion that this is at least partially based on the idea that there is both a monetary and clearly kind of an ideological perspective or take on this lawsuit,” Yohnka said. “There are resources that are flowing in. And I suppose, from their perspective, they believe that cooperating even more completely with ICE helps to ensure that revenue stream.”
However, Devane disputed the idea that the sheriffs have a financial incentive in fulfilling ICE detainers without a warrant. He said, “Neither the McHenry County Sheriff nor the Kankakee Sheriff was motivated by monetary considerations to file this suit. None of the federal reimbursement dollars which go to McHenry County or Kankakee County accrue to either sheriff or to either of their budget accounts. Further, housing such inmates is difficult due to the need for separation from the general jail population and because ICE regulations are generally more strict than the Illinois Penal Code. So while there is revenue, there are also additional costs.”
Federal courts have previously ruled that states are able to regulate if and how ICE detainers are fulfilled.