State law prohibits Sauk Valley-area sheriffs from assisting ICE with mass deportations

DIXON — Sheriffs from across the Sauk Valley said state law forbids them from assisting with newly sworn-in President Donald Trump’s promise to “launch the largest deportation program in American history.”

In the months leading up to his inauguration Monday, Trump said he would declare a national emergency and use military assets to make good on his campaign promise of the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

However, Ogle County Sheriff Brian Van Vickle said state laws, such as the Illinois Trust Act, prohibit his office from assisting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement with detainers or acting on immigration status without a judicial warrant.

“The Attorney General can charge a law enforcement officer with official misconduct and potentially decertify them for cooperating,” Van Vickle said. “As a law enforcement officer in Illinois, we can’t even ask individuals about their immigration status. That’s something that’s prohibited underneath the Trust Act.”

Enacted in 2017, the Trust Act is meant to foster trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities by limiting local and state law enforcements' involvement in federal immigration enforcement. However, many law enforcement agencies feel the Trust Act leaves them in an impossible position by forcing them to choose between obeying federal immigration detainers or complying with state statute.

“I’m not going to do anything to get into trouble,” Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker said. “Illinois has in the past filed lawsuits against two Illinois sheriffs. I do not want to be number three.”

The Trust Act was amended in 2021 with the New Way Forward Act, which prohibits ICE from contracting with Illinois correctional facilities to hold detained immigrants.

“We’ve housed inmates for the federal government in Ogle County since the mid-90s,” Van Vickle said. “However, upon implementation of that amendment, we had to stop housing all of our ICE inmates. Those people are still being housed. They’re just being housed in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, we used that money to supplement the sheriff’s office, which is no longer available to us, and is being taken out of state.”

Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has promised that Chicago will be “ground zero” for the mass deportations. But Gov. JB Pritzker has said that while “convicted violent criminals” should not be allowed in the state, he also “has an obligation to protect” migrants and asylum-seekers who come to his city.

In a news release issued Monday, state Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, accused Pritzker of fear mongering.

“Governor Pritzker is once again misleading Illinoisans,” McCombie said in the release. “Current deportation efforts already prioritize removing illegal immigrants who have committed crimes. It’s disappointing to see Governor Pritzker distort the truth to try to score political points. We all want to live in safe communities, free of crime, and enforcing the law against those who break it is common sense. Instead of fear mongering, let’s focus on solutions that protect law-abiding citizens and ensure justice is served.”