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SPRINGFIELD — Some Illinois lawmakers are working on state bills that aim to protect immigrant communities and limit how and where federal immigration agents operate.

The efforts come amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has brought federal agents to hospitals, a suburban college campus, courthouses, apartment buildings and around schools in Chicago and the suburbs.

Proposed bills — some yet to be introduced to the state legislature — would ban immigration agents from making civil arrests at courthouses statewide, ask federal agents to comply with health centers’ rules to protect patients’ privacy and increase protections for immigrants, among other things, advocates said.

Some of these bills could be brought forward during the state’s veto session this week or the upcoming spring session, advocates said.

State lawmakers previously said they were evaluating options during the veto session to respond to ramped-up federal immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and the suburbs, according to Capitol News Illinois.

Banning ICE Arrests At State Courthouses

A proposed bill called the Court Access, Safety and Participation Act would prohibit arrests made without a warrant at state courthouses and allow for a yet-to-be-determined action to be taken against those who violate the law.

The proposal would ban arrests without a judicial warrant or in response to an emergency from “taking place inside, on the way to or coming home” from an Illinois courthouse, according to a fact sheet by the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

It would not apply to federal or immigration courts, according to the fact sheet.

In the past few months, over a dozen immigration-related arrests have been made at or near county courthouses, according to the Coalition.

These arrests and the presence of immigration agents and vehicles outside courthouses have had “a significant chilling effect on the court system,” said Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center Clinic at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

Victims, witnesses and court visitors have stayed away from courthouses, missed court appointments or failed to seek orders of protection in domestic violence cases, advocates said.

In early September, two people were arrested by ICE agents at Cook County’s Domestic Violence Courthouse. Immigrants and mixed-status families facing domestic violence are being put in a position where they have to choose between protecting their safety and potentially being targeted by federal agents and separated from their families, said Nina Sedeño, senior immigration policy analyst for the Latino Policy Forum.

The Cook County Defender’s Office said in an emailed statement that the legislation is “urgently needed to protect all Illinoisans and to ensure that courthouses throughout the state remain open and accessible to all members of the public, regardless of immigration status.”

Last week, a Cook County judge banned civil arrests at county court buildings, a move supported by legal groups and the Cook County Defender’s Office. That order bars immigration arrests without a judicial warrant for any “party, witness or potential witness” at county courthouses, including places to and from courthouses like parking lots, sidewalks and entryways.

Expanding Illinois’ Sanctuary Policy

Lawmakers are also pushing to update Illinois’ sanctuary policy to limit cooperation with law enforcement officers who are participating in immigration-related operations, said Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

With these changes, the Illinois TRUST Act’s definition of immigration agent would expand beyond ICE to include any law enforcement officer who is authorized to arrest and detain people for immigration enforcement purposes.

In the first weeks of Trump’s second term, the Department of Homeland Security authorized federal agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshalls Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to detain and arrest people for immigration enforcement, NPR reported.

Proposed changes in Illinois would also bar local law enforcement from providing ICE or third parties direct access to their electronic databases or their data-sharing platforms, according to the text from the bill. The changes were proposed by Rep. Elizabeth “Lisa” Hernandez and Sen. Omar Aquino.

Even when the state’s sanctuary laws prohibit data-sharing agreements, Illinois State Police shares data of individuals considered to be gang members — which could include citizenship information — with ICE through a statewide computer system, according to WTTW.

Lawmakers are also proposing to add some of the mandates from the state’s Keep Illinois Families Together Act that protect students and young people to the Illinois TRUST Act, Tsao said. With this change, campus police, school resource officers and the Department of Juvenile Justice would be among law enforcement agencies that must follow the state’s sanctuary protections.

ICE In Health Centers

Another effort, the Health Care Sanctity and Privacy Act, would ensure health care providers and staff can provide quality care without interference by law enforcement.

This month, federal agents handcuffed Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) at a Humboldt Park hospital when she asked them if they had a warrant for a detained man taken to the hospital’s emergency room. Federal agents have also been reported at suburban hospitals.

State lawmakers are drafting a bill to ensure hospitals have policies and procedures to respond should immigration agents come into their facilities, said Rep. Dagmara “Dee” Avelar, one of the champions behind the Health Care Sanctity and Privacy Act.

“When you have immigration agents at a hospital, it could send a chilling effect to the everyday immigrant family seeking health care in a space that they trust,” Avelar said.

Part of the bill could ask hospitals to designate a point person who interacts with immigration officers, is well-versed in identifying judicial warrants, follows a protocol and can ensure patients and staff are not at risk of being arrested if immigration agents come into a hospital, she said.

“Overall, hospital staff is concerned with being tasked with having to be the ones to respond to immigration. That is not the intent of the law or the legislation that we’re trying to propose,” Avelar said.

The proposal has yet to be introduced to the state legislature as negotiations are taking place.

“I think we are in a good place to bring something to our communities that is meaningful,” Avelar said.

The state law could also ask immigration officers to comply with health care centers’ policies when they enter their facilities, according to a fact sheet shared by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Protections For Early Childhood Centers And Universities

Immigrant groups are urging state lawmakers to consider expanding protections for early childhood centers, colleges and universities.

This year, Illinois passed the Safe Schools For All Act, which pushes public schools to adopt policies that outline how they should respond if immigration officers come to a school, according to Chalkbeat. It is set to go into effect Jan. 1.

Lawmakers and advocates are exploring ways for early childhood centers and higher education centers to adopt policies around immigration enforcement within or near their facilities, said Erika Mendez, K-12 policy director for the Latino Policy Forum.

Advocates and officials are interested in policies or procedures for daycare centers and private early childhood providers that would limit immigration enforcement on or around their facilities, Mendez said. One of the challenges is that many early childcare providers are privately-owned businesses or home daycare centers, where a home is also a place of business, Mendez said.

In higher education, lawmakers are looking at practices universities could adopt as guidance for immigration agents’ presence and whether there could be a campus system that sends alerts if immigration agents come near a campus, Mendez said.

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October 29, 2025 at 12:32PM