Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill limiting federal immigration enforcement into law Tuesday morning, over a month after House Bill 1312 passed the state legislature on Oct. 31. Dubbed the Safety and Liberation Together Act, it restricts federal immigration enforcement near state courthouses and allows individuals to pursue litigation over civil immigration enforcement actions.
In the wake of Operation Midway Blitz, the SALT Act is Democratic Illinois lawmakers’ response to increased federal immigration enforcement in Chicago and its suburbs. The last several months have seen the arrests of thousands, largely without criminal records, according to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement published by the Deportation Data Project.
Under the legislation’s provisions, people taken into custody can sue for civil damages, including statutory damages of $10,000. Apart from state courthouses, it also strengthens immigration protection and privacy policies for places like hospitals, universities and day care centers.
“Together we’re sending a message to Donald Trump, to Kristi Noem, to Gregory Bovino and anyone else seeking to terrorize our people,” Pritzker said at a Tuesday morning news conference. “Your divisiveness and your brutality are not welcome here.”
Damages for those seeking legal remedies may increase based on the defendant’s conduct, including factors such as facial coverings, body cameras, crowd control measures — including the use of tear gas — and vehicles with a non-Illinois license plate or no license plate at all.
In a written statement to The Daily, State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) described these locations as places where “people’s safety is of the utmost importance” and described ICE agents’ actions in Chicago and its suburbs as “sickening” and demonstrating a “reckless disregard for the law and violence.”
In Springfield, the bill cleared the Senate with a 40-18 vote and the House with a 75-32 vote, supported by Democratic lawmakers including Simmons, State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) and State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview).
According to Simmons, his support for the bill was a reaction to fears that his constituents have shared with him and his experience seeing ICE agents “throw” a reporter to the ground in Lincoln Square and people “abducted” from Rogers Park.
Many of his constituents still will not leave their homes without passports, Simmons wrote, and some fear going to school, work or grocery shopping.
“Even since this bill passed last month, that fear is still real for many of the families I represent, and we need a real reckoning with the damage and trauma ICE has left behind,” Simmons wrote.
Pritzker lauded the “hundreds of everyday Illinoisans” who have taken up rapid-response responsibilities and “answered the call of neighbors in need.” He added that the state’s rapid responder system is “nation-leading” and people in other cities are following Illinois’ example.
Fine wrote in a statement to The Daily that since ICE began “raiding” neighborhoods earlier this year, she could tell from her conversations with constituents that they were willing to do everything in their power to protect and provide for their neighbors.
Immigrants in the 9th District aren’t just “numbers on an ICE spreadsheet,” Fine emphasized. Some are parents taking their kids to daycare and families trying to put food on the table; others, students on community college campuses, she wrote.
“My district made it unmistakably clear that they wanted their state government to step up, and HB 1312 is the direct result of those conversations,” Fine wrote.
However, the bill has faced backlash from Republicans, including State Sen. John Curran (R-Lemont), who argued in the chamber that it would get “set aside” by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Executive Director Lawrence Benito said in a Tuesday news release that Illinois residents have “stepped up to look out for their neighbors” and demanded “real protections.”
According to U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) , Pritzker is doing “exactly what a leader should do in the face of a wannabe dictator’s cruel policies.” The new law will assuage fears about going to court or seeking medical care and basic services, regardless of immigration status, she explained in a statement to The Daily.
Schakowsky shared that she’s heard from families across the 9th District who are “afraid to even step outside” after ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents “terrorized” their communities.
“Everyone, regardless of their immigration status, deserves to live with dignity and without fear,” Schakowsky wrote.
Mayor Daniel Biss thanked the legislation’s advocates and applauded Pritzker for signing it into law in a statement to The Daily.
He highlighted the strengthening of data protections and prohibiting courthouse arrests as terms that hold ICE accountable.
“These state protections bolster the actions we’ve taken in Evanston to help keep people safe,” Biss wrote. “While the amount of federal activity has decreased in recent weeks, I urge all residents to remain vigilant and look out for our neighbors as ICE has been spotted in the Chicagoland area in recent weeks.”
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