New Law Restricts Immigrant Detention In Illinois Jails

CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law Monday restricting local law enforcement's ability to detain immigrants awaiting trial.

Kanakee, Pulaski, and McHenry counties currently have agreements with ICE to house immigrant detainees while they await court hearings, according to a report from the Associated Press. The three counties house around 260 detainees in total.

The new law says local government agencies must end their contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by January 2022, and prohibits them from making new agreements with the federal agency.

The law effectively ends immigrant detention in Illinois. A press release from Pritzker's office states Illinois is the second state in the country to require local officials to end their partnerships with ICE.

Pritzker signed several other bills on Monday, including one requiring local officials to address hate crimes against immigrant communities and one expanding protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

"Every family, every child, every human being deserves to feel safe and secure in the place they call home," he said in a statement.

The National Immigrant Justice Center released a statement in supportof the new laws.

"This law is a result of years of persistent work by a broad coalition of immigrant communities and advocates," said Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of the NIJC. "Together, we will now turn to the next phase of this work: ensuring that, as Illinois jails end their ICE contracts, the people who have been detained under those contracts are released to reunite with their families and pursue their immigration cases from their own communities and with access to legal counsel."