Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday accepted an invitation from the Republican chairperson of the U.S. House Oversight Committee to testify about the state’s laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants. Pritzker will appear June 12 alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, according to a statement from Comer’s office. All three are Democrats, and Walz was the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president. Pritzker will “voluntarily appear before Congress on June 12 to discuss his track record on public safety and the implementation of bipartisan state laws, Alex Gough, a spokesperson for Pritzker, said in a statement.
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Pritzker’s appearance is likely to represent a flashpoint in Illinois’ ongoing battle with the GOP-controlled U.S House and the Trump administration, which is attempting to strip self-proclaimed sanctuary cities of all federal funding. “The Trump Administration is taking decisive action to deport criminal illegal aliens from our nation but reckless sanctuary states like Illinois, Minnesota and New York are actively seeking to obstruct federal immigration enforcement,” Comer said in a statement. “The governors of these states must explain why they are prioritizing the protection of criminal illegal aliens over the safety of U.S. citizens, and they must be held accountable.” Pritzker, who has yet to announce whether he will run for a third term as Illinois governor and is widely considered to be weighing a run for president in 2028, has opposed Trump at every opportunity and accused his fellow Democrats of not doing enough to block the presidents’ efforts. The state law that prohibits state and local law enforcement officers from assisting federal immigration agents, known as the Trust Act, is designed to allow state and local law enforcement agents to focus on fighting crime while ensuring all residents, regardless of their immigration status, are not deterred from seeking help from police and obtaining medical care, a spokesperson for the governor said. “Despite the rhetoric of Republicans in Congress, this public safety law ensures law enforcement can focus on doing their jobs well while empowering all members of the public, regardless of immigration status, to feel comfortable calling police officers and emergency services if they are in need of help,” Gough said. The Trust Act was signed into law by former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, and approved by a bipartisan vote of the General Assembly in 2017. Trump has repeatedly threatened to yank federal funding from self-proclaimed sanctuary cities and states, but has so far been blocked by federal judges. A federal judge on April 24
blocked the Trump administration from yanking funding from 16 cities and counties across the country because they have laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents. The injunction issued by U.S. District Judge William Orrick does not apply to Chicago or Cook County but is likely to bolster Chicago and Illinois’ arguments that local officials do not have help federal immigration agents conduct deportation efforts. In February, the Trump administration sued state, city and county officials to overturn laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents. That suit remains pending. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Pritzker have repeatedly said Chicago and Illinois will continue to prohibit local and state law enforcement agents from helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deport undocumented residents unless they have been convicted of a crime. Chicago’s
Welcoming City ordinance complies with all state and federal laws, according to a statement from the mayor’s office.
Read More: WTTW News Explains: How Did Chicago Become a Sanctuary City? Chicago expects to receive approximately $3.5 billion in new and existing federal grant dollars in 2025, officials said. The city’s 2025 budget is $17.1 billion. In addition, the Chicago Transit Authority expects to receive $1.9 billion from the federal government to extend the Red Line south to 130th Street and the Chicago Public Schools received $1.3 billion from the federal government during the 2024-25 academic year. In March,
Johnson testified in front of the House Oversight Committee about the city’s self-proclaimed sanctuary city status alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Johnson fiercely defended Chicago’s protections for undocumented immigrants, saying that the city’s Welcoming City ordinance makes all Chicagoans safer. Comer closely questioned each of the mayors about whether their police departments would turn over a criminal to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Johnson said the Chicago Police Department would do so, as long as those agents had “a criminal warrant.” State law enforcement agents and Chicago police have always compiled with judicial orders executed by federal agents.
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