NDLON Praises Illinois and Chicago for Standing Firm to Defend Sanctuary Laws Against Trump Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 – The Justice Department sued the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois and Cook County on Thursday, accusing them of “impeding” and “thwarting” the Trump Administration’s efforts to arrest and deport immigrants.

The following is a statement from Chris Newman, Legal Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON):

“The only thing that Illinois, Chicago and Cook County are impeding is Trump’s reckless and lawless attacks on sanctuary policies and his vicious campaign to dehumanize and criminalize immigrant communities. Sanctuary policies are an essential line of defense against unconstitutional immigration enforcement, and they draw a bright line for local law enforcement to advance public safety.

“They make it very clear that state and local law-enforcement officials will not be conscripted as ‘force multipliers’ in this administration’s brutal attack on immigrant communities.

“The President defames immigrants as violent criminals and terrorists who are ‘poisoning’ the nation’s blood. It’s no surprise that he would also attack law-enforcement officials who want no part of his fascist, nativist agenda. We stand with lawmakers and law-enforcement officials in all sanctuary communities who are under MAGA attack.

“Trump’s attacks on sanctuary policies will likely only strengthen their support and hasten their expansion. We expect courts will continue to reaffirm their legality beyond any doubt. And the country will clearly see who is the real threat to law and public safety. It’s not immigrants that cities and states must protect themselves from. It’s Trump and his accomplices – the convicted felon and his law-breaking minions, apologists, and enablers. They are far more dangerous than the phantom villains he conjures with his lies.”

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