Two Illinois counties went straight to court after lawmakers passed into law legislation that effectively ends immigration detention in the state. Their plan was to deal the Illinois Way Forward Act a death blow, and continue reaping in millions from federal contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
But that legal effort by McHenry and Kankakee Counties has failed for now, because a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. Injustice Watch said that the court found the law “was an appropriate use of the state’s constitutional power to prohibit counties from participating in federal regulatory programs, such as immigration detention.”
“This ruling is a victory for the state of Illinois and for immigrant communities and anyone else across the country who cares about fairness and dignity for immigrants,” Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights senior policy counsel, Fred Tsao, said according to Injustice Watch.
The legislation, signed into law by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker this past summer, was the result of years of advocacy by grassroots organizations and community members like Hwangchan Yu, who said in August that “we've greatly reduced ICE's ability to separate me, my family and my community from our homes.” But for the counties, it’s been about money.
“McHenry and Kankakee counties make it abundantly clear in their court filings that money is at the center of their case,” Injustice Watch said last month. The two counties make roughly $12 million in federal detention contracts per year. Injustice Watch cites data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University showing that of the more than 22,000 people in ICE custody, more than 75% have no criminal record. “Many more have only minor offenses, including traffic violations,” TRAC said.
“The most important thing to always remember about immigration is that people are not being held for a criminal violation,” National Immigrant Justice Center associate director of federal litigation Mark Fleming told Injustice Watch. “There are many alternatives to detention that are available to ensure that somebody shows up for their immigration proceeding short of physical detention.”
McHenry County intends to appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the report said. Under the law, counties will have to end their immigration detention contracts by the beginning of next year. Like echoed by other fighting ICE detention all across the country, advocates are seeking to have detained immigrants released from these abusive facilities rather than just transferred elsewhere.
In New Jersey, Bergen County was the last locality in the state to continue holding a contract when the commissioner board voted unanimously in October to end the agreement. But instead of releasing the remaining 15 immigrants, ICE moved them to New York. “At least one person was able to place a call to a family member to let them know what was happening before they were placed in vans and driven through the night, for seven hours, arriving after dawn on Friday morning at the Buffalo Service Processing Center,” the Interfaith Campaign For Just Closures said.
But that legal effort by McHenry and Kankakee Counties has failed for now, because a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. Injustice Watch said that the court found the law “was an appropriate use of the state’s constitutional power to prohibit counties from participating in federal regulatory programs, such as immigration detention.”
“This ruling is a victory for the state of Illinois and for immigrant communities and anyone else across the country who cares about fairness and dignity for immigrants,” Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights senior policy counsel, Fred Tsao, said according to Injustice Watch.
The legislation, signed into law by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker this past summer, was the result of years of advocacy by grassroots organizations and community members like Hwangchan Yu, who said in August that “we've greatly reduced ICE's ability to separate me, my family and my community from our homes.” But for the counties, it’s been about money.
“McHenry and Kankakee counties make it abundantly clear in their court filings that money is at the center of their case,” Injustice Watch said last month. The two counties make roughly $12 million in federal detention contracts per year. Injustice Watch cites data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University showing that of the more than 22,000 people in ICE custody, more than 75% have no criminal record. “Many more have only minor offenses, including traffic violations,” TRAC said.
“The most important thing to always remember about immigration is that people are not being held for a criminal violation,” National Immigrant Justice Center associate director of federal litigation Mark Fleming told Injustice Watch. “There are many alternatives to detention that are available to ensure that somebody shows up for their immigration proceeding short of physical detention.”
McHenry County intends to appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the report said. Under the law, counties will have to end their immigration detention contracts by the beginning of next year. Like echoed by other fighting ICE detention all across the country, advocates are seeking to have detained immigrants released from these abusive facilities rather than just transferred elsewhere.
In New Jersey, Bergen County was the last locality in the state to continue holding a contract when the commissioner board voted unanimously in October to end the agreement. But instead of releasing the remaining 15 immigrants, ICE moved them to New York. “At least one person was able to place a call to a family member to let them know what was happening before they were placed in vans and driven through the night, for seven hours, arriving after dawn on Friday morning at the Buffalo Service Processing Center,” the Interfaith Campaign For Just Closures said.