{"id":843421,"date":"2026-06-04T08:33:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843421\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T08:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:33:26","slug":"illinois-passed-a-law-to-keep-ice-out-of-courthouses-its-not-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/843421\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Passed A Law To Keep ICE Out Of Courthouses. It\u2019s Not Working"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published by Borderless Magazine. Sign up for its newsletter to learn the latest about Chicago\u2019s immigrant communities<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CHICAGO \u2014 Outside the Domestic Violence Courthouse in downtown Chicago, Cook County officials and immigrant rights advocates gathered in early May to denounce what they described as an increasing federal immigration enforcement presence at courthouses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The message was simple, but not new: courthouses should be off-limits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody should have their day in court,\u201d said Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR).<\/p>\n

In recent months, immigrant arrests at courthouses have become more frequent, as federal agents challenge the state\u2019s legislation intended to prevent these arrests. Under current law, anyone arrested by ICE at a courthouse can sue for civil damages \u2014 a remedy legal experts say is grounded in preexisting federal law.<\/p>\n

That remedy, however, is being tested as immigrant arrests continue despite state efforts to protect courthouses.<\/p>\n

Most recently, advocates said ICE agents were present at four Cook County courthouses on May 7 and arrested two people on their way to court hearings on May 18. ICE presence in sensitive locations prompts fear and prevents people from showing up to court, advocates say.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurvivors of gender-based violence, in particular, already face barriers to resources,\u201d said Trisha Teofilo Olave, who works with immigrant survivors of violence at the National Immigrant Justice Center. \u201cThe fear of being abducted by federal agents when attending a hearing in state court is adding another layer of fear and further increasing the barriers to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

When President Donald Trump returned to office, he rescinded a 2021 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy that had designated schools, hospitals and courthouses as \u201csensitive locations\u201d where immigration enforcement was generally restricted. Federal agents now have broader authority to arrest in those settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In December 2025, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Court Access, Safety and Participation Act (CASPA), which bans civil immigration enforcement within 1,000 feet of courthouses. The broader legislation also requires\u00a0hospitals to prepare for potential interactions\u00a0<\/a>with federal agents and extends protections to immigrants at universities and day care centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith my signature today, we are protecting people and institutions that belong here in Illinois,\u201d Pritzker said in a press release at the time. \u201cDropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The legislation has faced legal pushback from the federal government. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit challenging CASPA shortly after it was signed into law, arguing it was an \u201cunconstitutional attempt<\/a>\u00a0to regulate federal law enforcement officers,\u201d according to a press release.<\/p>\n

Despite the lawsuit, CASPA remains in effect. However, the legislation has fallen short of its goal of shielding sensitive locations from immigration enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since February, the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender has confirmed at least\u00a013 arrests of people who were either attending, heading to or leaving court proceedings, including at the Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese individuals who are coming to our county courthouses, they are engaging with us in good faith,\u201d said Cook County Commissioner Jessica V\u00e1squez (8th District). \u201cThey are going to access their due process rights, and protecting them and their capacity to access this opportunity, that is incredibly important for us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OnOn May 5, a man appeared at the Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse at 555 W. Harrison was tased and detained afterward by federal agents less than a block away at the CTA Clinton Blue Line station, according to Katie Pelech with the Cook County Public Defenders Office. Credit: Max Herman\/Borderless Magazine<\/p>\n

According to a spokesperson from Gov. Pritzker\u2019s office, CASPA allows for \u201ccivil damages for false imprisonment,\u201d meaning those who may have been arrested by a federal agent in violation of the law may be entitled to damages of $10,000 if they were attending a state court proceeding.<\/p>\n

Martin Klein, a legislative staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), said the law focuses on individuals bringing lawsuits for violations of their rights \u2014 rather than another enforcement mechanism \u2014 because CASPA is grounded in existing federal law. MALDEF was one of the organizations sponsoring CASPA.<\/p>\n

Klein said CASPA draws on the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which allows individuals to bring civil lawsuits against federal officers or employees to get financial compensation for wrongful conduct.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make sure that what we did was effective and in fact useful for individuals, and so that\u2019s why the remedy is grounded in the FTCA, because the FTCA is federal law,\u201d Klein said. \u201cIt cannot be argued that it is a remedy that goes beyond what\u2019s permitted by the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Illinois\u2019 law is similar to courthouse access protections enacted in New York and Colorado, with minor differences in definitions, Klein said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Legal experts say the state\u2019s enforcement of the law remains an open question, however.<\/p>\n

Alexa Van Brunt, of the MacArthur Justice Center, said federal agents\u2019 actions have raised new legal questions about jurisdiction and the extent to which state law can address federal action under the Constitution. The Supremacy Clause governs the authority of state law over federal law and vice versa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really all new territory,\u201d Van Brunt said.<\/p>\n

Klein said CASPA declares that courts have the authority to issue rules to enforce the law, and what that looks like in practice can vary from court to court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it doesn\u2019t do is spell piece by piece all of the specific requirements that need to be implemented at the court,\u201d Klein said. \u201cThat is left to the courthouses themselves to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin Klein, legislative staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), said Illinois\u2019 legislation, titled the Court Access, Safety, and Participation Act (CASPA), was similar to laws passed in New York and Colorado. Credit: Camilla Forte\/Borderless Magazine\/Catchlight Local\/Report for America<\/p>\n

Pritzker\u2019s office did not respond to questions on what steps the state is taking to enforce its ban on ICE arrests in courthouses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Katie Pelech, attorney supervisor at the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender, said in her 13 years of legal practice before the Trump administration, she had never seen immigration enforcement being done at courthouses in this way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI witnessed one immigration arrest at one courthouse in my entire career,\u201d Pelech said.<\/p>\n

Arrests have continued, she said, even after cases are dismissed. The practice has also interrupted ongoing proceedings, and she said one of her clients was deported before their court case was resolved.<\/p>\n

\"KatieKatie Pelech with the Office of the Cook County Public Defenders speaks at a press conference to raise awareness about the presence of federal agents outside courthouses on May 7, 2026. Credit: Max Herman\/Borderless Magazine<\/p>\n

Attorneys like Pelech have had to redirect their focus to advising clients on immigration risks at courthouses \u2014 making it more difficult to prepare for cases. It also presents new challenges for immigrants with access to their constitutional right to argue their cases in court or seek protection from domestic violence, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever burden it imposes on us is minuscule by comparison to the threat that our clients are facing,\u201d Pelech said. \u201cBut it\u2019s just difficult to see this and want to help and have limited ways in which we can do so.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The public defender\u2019s office is recommending virtual court hearings when possible for those concerned about immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

As immigration agents continue to conduct immigration enforcement in violation of state laws, advocates are searching for ways to navigate new legal territory and protect immigrant access to courthouses and healthcare.<\/p>\n

ICIRR hosts weekly \u201cKnow Your Rights\u201d and rapid response trainings for community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cFear right now is clearly the objective of this administration,\u201d said Diego Morales, a rapid response organizer with Pilsen Unidos por Nuestro Orgullo. \u201cTheir point is to terrorize people, to terrorize us, to terrorize our communities. But we are fighting back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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