A federal judge in Chicago on Friday dismissed “in its entirety” the Justice Department’s highly publicized lawsuit over sanctuary policies in Illinois, Chicago and Cook County, but she gave its lawyers a month to file a new complaint before she makes her ruling permanent.
U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins handed down a thorough 64-page ruling in which she analyzed the Trump administration’s allegations and dismissed its various claims.
She found the Justice Department lacked standing to sue Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart “with respect to the Sanctuary Policies.”
But she said the Justice Department also failed in its arguments against the governments led by each of them.
The judge handed down her ruling “without prejudice” — meaning the Justice Department could amend its lawsuit and try again. However, she warned that if it fails to do so by Aug. 22, “the dismissal will convert to one with prejudice,” making her ruling final.
Gov. JB Pritzker in a post to social media heralded the ruling.
“Illinois just beat the Trump Administration in federal court. Their case challenging the bipartisan TRUST Act was dismissed — unlike the President, we follow the law and listen to the courts,” read the post.
A Johnson spokesperson said the ruling “affirms what we have long known: that Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance is lawful and supports public safety. The City cannot be compelled to cooperate with the Trump Administration’s reckless and inhumane immigration agenda.”
The ACLU of Illinois joined in their applause. Spokesman Edwin C. Yohnka said the judge was “correct to reject the Trump Administration’s lawsuit and to allow public officials in Illinois and Chicago to follow our policies that prioritize local public safety and welfare over federal civil immigration enforcement.”
“The ruling pushes back against the president’s belief that he can unilaterally dictate that all government entities participate in his destructive and increasingly unpopular mass deportation program,” Yohnka said.
President Donald Trump and his allies have decried the sanctuary policies in Illinois and Chicago amid a crackdown on illegal immigration. Pritzker, Johnson and Preckwinkle have vowed to uphold the state and city’s sanctuary laws, meaning local authorities won’t assist federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement in tracking down immigrants without legal status.
Pritzker and Johnson were each summoned to testify before a congressional committee this year over the policies.
The Justice Department claimed that Illinois leaders had been “minimally enforcing — and oftentimes affirmatively thwarting” federal investigations, resulting in “countless criminals being released into Chicago who should have been held for immigration removal from the United States.”
They sought a court order barring state and local protections for immigrants.
Contributing: Mitchell Armentrout