{"id":284538,"date":"2025-10-07T18:28:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/284538\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T18:28:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T18:28:11","slug":"cook-county-public-defenders-office-warns-ice-courthouse-arrests-are-spreading-across-chicago-region-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/284538\/","title":{"rendered":"Cook County Public Defender\u2019s Office warns ICE courthouse arrests are spreading across Chicago region \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

The increased presence of Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel in the Chicago<\/a> region has begun to affect Will County<\/a> and other suburban areas. <\/p>\n

Since the summer, multiple immigrants residing in Joliet<\/a> and surrounding communities have been detained by ICE, including at least one man who was arrested inside the Will County courthouse while attending court with a family member for an unrelated traffic violation. <\/p>\n

Despite repeated requests by local officials and The Herald-News for ICE to acknowledge its presence in the city and its involvement in these arrests, the agency has refused to confirm any actions that have been taken. The Joliet Police Department<\/a> and immigration attorneys have confirmed the stories.<\/p>\n

\"Entrance<\/p>\n

Entrance sign for the Will County Courthouse on Aug. 5, 2025 in Joliet. (Felix Sarver)<\/p>\n

Sharlyn Grace, the deputy public defender for policy at the Cook County<\/a> Public Defenders Office, noted that ICE has not coordinated with court authorities either, especially in cases where immigrants have been detained while at court on other business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no coordination or cooperation with us,\u201d Grace said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had clients not show up and later we have to identify them and find out they\u2019ve been detained. There is no regard for the state court process or any sharing of information. The client\u2019s other cases are forced to the side, and they could end up with warrants issued against them inappropriately, because the court wasn\u2019t notified that they were detained.\u201d <\/p>\n

Grace said she suspects ICE is accessing public documents to find the names of people to target without warrants.<\/p>\n

The Cook County Public Defenders Office\u2019s immigration team is currently representing some immigrants picked up by ICE in Will County due to its involvement with the Midwest Immigrants Defenders Alliance<\/a> (MIDA), an organization formed in 2022 to provide legal counsel to detained immigrants with financial need. <\/p>\n

Under U.S. law, immigrants facing deportation are not entitled to a public defender, like defendants in a criminal case. However, in 2022, Illinois and Cook County passed laws that enabled the Cook County Public Defender\u2019s Office to provide legal counsel to immigrants. <\/p>\n

The newly created pilot program then joined with the National Immigrant Justice Center, The Resurrection Project, a nonprofit rooted in Chicago\u2019s Mexican immigrant community but now extends across the state, and The Immigration Project to create MIDA, which accepts referrals for cases from other immigrant rights organizations around the state.<\/p>\n

\"Federal<\/p>\n

Immigration Chicago Federal agents (inside of a car) and security guards talk to each other outside of an ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) processing facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Ill., Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo\/Nam Y. Huh) (Nam Y. Huh\/AP)<\/p>\n

Out-of-state detentions<\/p>\n

Further rule changes have enabled these attorneys to continue representing clients remotely in other jurisdictions, as many immigration cases are being heard in other states. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey [ICE] transfer people fairly regularly,\u201d said Grace. \u201cA lot of immigrants detained in Illinois are being held in Indiana and Kentucky, with others increasingly as far as Texas and Louisiana. More of these clients used to be able to be released while their cases were pending, but because of the Trump administration\u2019s detention goals, blanket policies have been passed leading to very few people being released.\u201d <\/p>\n

The State of Illinois has laws that prohibit local law enforcement from contracting with ICE, so detained immigrants are not allowed to be held in Illinois prisons and jail facilities, necessitating the remote proceedings. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are civil proceedings and the push for detention is motivated by a desire to punish,\u201d Grace said. \u201cIt\u2019s not appropriate and it\u2019s certainly a drastic change from a year ago.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even for detainees in Indiana and Kentucky, cases are being heard remotely by judges around the country in states like Texas and Tennessee. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause hearings are remote, and since the cases are federal, the government can ask to move hearings to various jurisdictions around the country to spread out the workload, as well as having cases heard in jurisdictions they believe will be more favorable to the outcomes they want,\u201d said Matthew Hendrickson, the spokesperson for the Cook County Public Defenders Office. <\/p>\n

Detained respondents do not have the ability to request a change of venue. They can oppose a change of venue requested by the government, but with legal counsel able to attend any hearing across the country remotely, Hendrickson notes it is a difficult argument to win because relocating does not deprive them of counsel. <\/p>\n

Courthouse arrests<\/p>\n

With ICE more regularly making appearances at courthouses \u2013including at domestic violence court in Chicago \u2013 and often refusing to acknowledge their movements or identify themselves except to other law enforcement, Grace said it is putting immigrants in an impossible position. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are faced with the choice of \u2018do I risk my freedom or risk getting a warrant for my arrest,\u2019\u201d Grace said. <\/p>\n

Grace noted that the Cook County Public Defender\u2019s Office encourages all residents with business before a court to attend their court dates, but to take precautions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe advise all our clients to come to court, but to remember that they can request remote appearances if they are concerned about being detained,\u201d said Grace. \u201cWe recommend they do that, but realize it may not always be available.\u201d <\/p>\n

In cases in which immigrants must come to court in person, Grace recommends attending with a friend or family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot that can be done if you arrive and ICE is there,\u201d she conceded. \u201cWhich is why we believe as lawyers that they should not be allowed to make these arrests at courthouses. The system relies on people being able to come to court without threats to their liberty and lives.\u201d <\/p>\n

If a resident is detained by ICE, she said they or their families are encouraged by MIDA to contact the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights at 1-855-435-7693 <\/b>for referrals on how to proceed and to connect to legal resources. <\/p>\n

Grace said that MIDA and immigration lawyers around the state are encouraging Illinois and county governments to adopt a law prohibiting ICE from taking action on court property without signed warrants. Legislation on the issue could be introduced in Springfield in the near future.<\/p>\n

The MacArthur Justice Center and the Cook County Public Defenders\u2019 Office also issued a call with a dozen other immigration and legal services organizations for Cook County to implement such a ban in and around its courthouses.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs ICE\u2019s aggressive enforcement operations continue in Chicago and surrounding suburbs, we call on the Chief Judge to use his administrative authority to protect the court system and the people of Cook County,\u201d said Director of the MacArthur Justice Center\u2019s Chicago office Alexa Van Brunt. \u201cIn our democracy, everyone has a right to access the courts without fear or intimidation. Survivors of domestic violence should not be forced to choose between protecting their safety and the safety of their family and possible deportation.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThese arrests should be concerning to anyone who cares about justice and transparency,\u201d said Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr. \u201cFederal agents conducting arrests in our courthouses on civil warrants has had a profound chilling effect on trust in our legal system and has hurt the public\u2019s ability to feel safe in seeking out the services of the circuit court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal agents conducting arrests, including wearing masks and refusing to identify their agencies, \u201calso puts judges, attorneys, court employees and members of the public at great risk to their personal safety,\u201d Mitchell, Jr. said.<\/p>\n

Hendrickson said that as of Oct. 2, there had been no response from the Chief Judge\u2019s office, except that the petition was under review. <\/p>\n

Hendrickson said the Cook County Public Defender\u2019s Office did not know how long the review would take, but that other legal service organizations were welcome to use the petition as a template for their own counties. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t heard much from other counties, but we suspect they may be waiting to see what the Chief Judge does,\u201d Hendrickson said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The increased presence of Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel in the Chicago region…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":284539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[12424,960,5404,1035,454,5386,1818,409,15418,17075,146675],"class_list":{"0":"post-284538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-arrest","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-cook-county","11":"tag-crime-and-courts","12":"tag-government","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-illinois","15":"tag-immigration","16":"tag-nonprofits","17":"tag-will-county","18":"tag-will-county-front-headlines"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115334303654270860","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}