Kendall County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t plan to help in deportations

Citing state law, the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t plan to work with federal immigration officials regarding President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.

“The state of Illinois' TRUST Act dictates how Illinois law enforcement agencies interact with federal immigration enforcement agents,” Kendall County Sheriff’s Deputy and public information officer Dan Briars said in an email. “Our policies mirror the state statute which broadly prohibits IL law enforcement agencies from participating in federal immigration enforcement or sharing information with federal immigration agents.”

Illinois state law generally prohibits local law enforcement from participating in immigration enforcement, according to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. The legislation – known as the TRUST Act – was signed by then Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2017.

Among other things, the law prohibits law enforcement from holding someone just because of a request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. The goal of the TRUST Act is to foster confidence between law enforcement agencies and the state’s immigrant communities by ensuring that interactions between immigrants and law enforcement do not lead to immigration detention or deportation.

“Any requests from federal immigration authorities – such as ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection – for assistance from local law enforcement to detain an individual or to provide access to individuals held by local authorities must be viewed as requests, not obligations,“ according to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. ”State law dictates whether local law enforcement can comply with those requests."

Local law enforcement may provide these types of assistance only in two narrow circumstances: when they are presented with a federal criminal warrant or when they are otherwise required by a specific federal law, states the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.