Illinois just dropped a bombshell that’s got federal immigration enforcement scratching their heads.
Breitbart reported that on Friday, state lawmakers passed a contentious bill that bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from making arrests of illegal immigrants within or near courthouses, sending it to Governor JB Pritzker, a known critic of the Trump administration, for his signature.
This move comes hot on the heels of a federal campaign dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” which, according to the Department of Homeland Security, netted over 3,000 unauthorized migrants—including some with serious criminal records like rape and murder—in Illinois and Indiana.
The new legislation doesn’t just nudge ICE away from the courthouse steps; it builds a veritable 1,000-foot moat around these buildings where federal agents are forbidden to operate.
Not content with a simple “keep out” sign, the bill also greenlights Illinois residents to sue federal agents if they believe their constitutional rights—think due process or protection from unreasonable searches—have been trampled.
Earlier in November 2025, a Cook County judge had already thrown a wrench into ICE’s plans by blocking arrests at county courthouses, including in Chicago, for anyone involved in court proceedings as a party or witness.
Rewind to earlier in 2025, when the Trump administration flipped a long-standing Department of Homeland Security policy—previously upheld under the Biden administration—that restricted arrests in sensitive spots like courthouses, schools, and hospitals without prior approval.
Since that reversal, ICE has been busy, collaring unauthorized migrants in or around courthouses across at least seven states, which clearly lit a fire under Illinois lawmakers to push back with this bill.
Illinois isn’t alone in this judicial fortress-building; California has limited immigration enforcement in courthouses since 2017, and Connecticut’s chief supreme court judge issued a policy this fall banning warrantless arrests inside state courts.
State Sen. Celina Villanueva, a Chicago Democrat, framed the bill as a shield for vulnerable communities, stating, “Our communities have been living in fear — fear of being separated from their children, fear of being taken from their homes, fear of simply existing.”
While her sentiment tugs at the heartstrings, one has to wonder if this buffer zone might also shield those who’ve committed heinous crimes—folks nabbed in Operation Midway Blitz—from facing federal consequences.
Villanueva doubled down, saying, “This bill is about giving people a sense of safety, a sense of humanity, and the assurance that their government sees them and will stand up for them.”
Democratic Senate President Don Harmon acknowledged the uphill battle, noting, “It’s not just about the constitutionality of the law, which I think is sound, but it’s the reality that the courts are stacked against us.”
Harmon’s candor about potential federal pushback—possibly dragging cases into federal courts or substituting the government for individual defendants—hints at a legal showdown that could make this bill more symbolic than effective, a classic case of state versus federal tug-of-war.