Immigration rights activists like Eréndira Rendón have spent years fighting for what she calls universal representation. Rendón’s organization, The Resurrection Project, is part of the Defenders for All campaign, a coalition of more than 40 community groups who work to advance due process for people facing deportation. The Cook County Public Defender’s Office can now.
SARAH MANSUR
SPRINGFIELD â Illinois lawmakers passed bills advanced by the Legislative Latino Caucus that would close the stateâs three immigrant detention centers and strengthen existing protections against local and federal law enforcement.Â
The Illinois Way Forward Act, or Senate Bill 667, requires that the existing agreements between local jails in McHenry, Pulaski and Kankakee counties and Immigration and Customs Enforcement must end by Jan. 1, 2022. The bill also prohibits any future agreements between ICE and local governments to âhouse or detain individuals for federal civil immigration violations.âÂ
The bill would also strengthen the TRUST Act, or âTransparency and Responsibility Using State Tools,â which took effect in 2017.Â