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
This story was originally published by Borderless Magazine, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that humanizes stories of immigration. Sign up for the Borderless Magazine newsletter for weekly updates.
By Diane Bou Khalil, Borderless Magazine
On Wednesday, Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States. His presidency follows four years of dramatic changes to the nation’s immigration system and unprecedented restrictions on refugees and asylum seekers.
Already, Biden has promised to reverse many of President Trump’s immigration policies early in his tenure. A memo from incoming chief of staff Ron Klain, sent to senior staff on Saturday, indicates that Biden intends to sign close to a dozen executive actions on and shortly after Inauguration Day, including a measure to end Trump’s Muslim ban. The president-elect also plans to submit a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress. The proposed plan will allow DACA recipients and others to apply f