SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (June 3, 2021) – On Monday, the Illinois Senate gave final approval to a bill that would limit state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Sen. Omar Aquino (D-Chicago) introduced Senate Bill 667 (SB667) on Feb. 25. The legislation would expand the Illinois Trust Act passed in 2017. This law prohibits state and local police from holding a person solely on the basis of a federal immigration detainer. SB667 would expand the law to prohibit law enforcement officers from inquiring about or investigating the citizenship, immigration status or place of birth of any individual in custody, or who has otherwise been stopped or detained.
This provision basically would basically do an end-run around 8 USC 1373. Under this law, states and localities cannot ban information sharing with the feds related to a person’s immigration status. But if state and local law enforcement officers are prohibited from asking about immigration of citizenship status, they can’t violate the federal law in question. They can’t share information they don’t have.