The Illinois Sheriffs Association and an Illinois county official oppose new immigration legislation Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he would sign that prohibits state cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Jim Kaitschuk, director of the Illinois Sheriffs Association (ISA) which opposes the Illinois Way Forward Act, told The Epoch Times, “I have a concern that we will not be able to maintain contact with the federal agencies. The [2017] TRUST Act ruled that we could not detain someone solely for an immigration detainer, but we could have contact with the federal government to let them know who we had in our custody; the new bill rules that we can’t participate, support or assist in immigration enforcement action, unless presented with a federal criminal warrant or required to by federal law, including contacting them about someone already in our custody. Cops’ hands become tied.”
The act’s separation between state and local law enforcement officers and ICE will be so extreme: “If I saw an ICE officer being assaulted I cannot legally intervene on the officer’s behalf,” said Kaitschuk. State and local law enforcement officers also cannot assist ICE with information sharing, detentions, and proceedings.
