ICE Jail Unlikely In Elmhurst, Given State Law: Official

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst alderman cast doubt Tuesday that the federal government would place a jail, particularly one for immigrants, in town.

During a City Council meeting, Alderman Guido Nardini said the federal government would have the right to do what it wants with its own property in Elmhurst.

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At the same time, he noted that the state has enacted a law that prohibits federal jails within 1,500 feet of "sensitive" areas such as homes, schools, daycares, parks and places of worship.

Because Elmhurst is "developmentally mature," no parcel would be available for a federal jail under the new law's rules, Nardini said.

"We would have an extra layer of protection with the state of Illinois addressing that," Nardini said.

In May, Nardini and Aldewoman Karen Sienko asked the city to consider zoning rules addressing federal jails.

This was after residents speculated that a developer's planned warehouse on the city's southwest side was a Trojan horse for an ICE jail.

In 2025, the same developer sold two Georgia warehouses to ICE for $68 million. In response to local feedback, the developer promised to include a deed restriction barring such a lockup at the Elmhurst site.

At the meeting, Nardini said putting federal immigration jails in municipalities was "wildly unpopular."

"This isn't partisan," he said. "Thirty percent of the country think that you can pick up the worst of the worst by going to Home Depot parking lots. Thirty percent of the country think that people without any criminal records should be detained and that U.S. citizens should be detained and, in some cases, be killed by mass unknown law enforcement. That is not what Elmhurst has anything to do with."