County judge in Chicago area bars ICE from arresting people at court
[October 16, 2025]
By CHRISTINE FERNANDO
CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County’s top judge has signed an order barring ICE
from arresting people at courthouses. Cook County includes Chicago,
which has seen a federal immigration crackdown in recent months.
Detaining residents outside court has been a common tactic for federal
agents, who have been stationed outside county courthouses for weeks,
making arrests and drawing crowds of protesters.
The order, which was signed Tuesday night and took effect Wednesday,
bars the civil arrest of any “party, witness, or potential witness”
while going to court proceedings. It includes arrests made inside
courthouses and in parking lots, surrounding sidewalks and entryways.
“The fair administration of justice requires that courts remain open and
accessible, and that litigants and witnesses may appear without fear of
civil arrest,” the order states.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defended the practice of making
arrests at courthouses, calling it “common sense.”
“We aren’t some medieval kingdom; there are no legal sanctuaries where
you can hide and avoid the consequences for breaking the law,” DHS said
in a statement. “Nothing in the constitution prohibits arresting a
lawbreaker where you find them.”
Immigration advocates decry immigration enforcement outside
courthouses
Local immigration and legal advocates, including the county’s public
defender’s office, have called for an order like this, saying clients
were avoiding court out of fear of being detained. The office has
confirmed at least a dozen immigration arrests at or near county
courthouses since the end of July. Representatives said they've seen
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's presence outside courthouses
increase.
“I have had numerous conversations with clients who are presented with a
difficult decision of either missing court and receiving an arrest
warrant or coming to court and risk being arrested by ICE," Cruz
Rodriguez, an assistant public defender with the office’s immigration
division, said at a news conference earlier this month.
Domestic violence advocacy organizations also signed a petition this
month calling for Cook County Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Evans to issue
the order. This comes after advocates said a woman was arrested by ICE
last month while entering the domestic violence courthouse.
Alexa Van Brunt, director of MacArthur Justice Center’s Illinois office,
which filed the petition, said she was “gratified” by Evans' order.
"This is a necessary and overdue action to ensure that the people of
Cook County can access the courts without fear," she said in a statement
to The Associated Press.
Evans said justice “depends on every individual’s ability to appear in
court without fear or obstruction.”
ICE tactics outside courthouses seen across country
The tactic of detaining people at courthouses in the Chicago area is
part of a larger jump in courthouse immigration arrests across the
country. The flurry of immigration enforcement operations at courthouses
has been condemned by judicial officials and legal organizations. It
also has drawn lawsuits from some states and the adoption of bills
seeking to block the practice.
In June, President Donald Trump's administration sued the state of New
York over a 2020 law barring federal immigration agents from making
arrests at state, city and other municipal courthouses.
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Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch, D-Hillside,
testifies before the Executive Committee on his legislation to allow
legislative staff to unionize, Oct. 24, 2023, in Springfield, Ill.
(AP Photo/John O'Connor, File)
Statehouse Democrats vow to adopt resolutions condemning federal
immigration crackdown
Opening the second day of the six-day fall legislative session in
Springfield, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch decried
the federal government’s immigration squeeze and vowed that his
majority Democrats would use floor time Wednesday to adopt
resolutions condemning the action.
“We won’t sit back and let our democracy be taken from us,” Welch
said at the Capitol, surrounded by two dozen of his caucus members
Asked about the practical impact of resolutions, Welch said there
also are discussions about legislation to restrict federal agents’
patrol. He lambasted reports of ICE arrests in medical facilities
and applauded Evans’ ruling prohibiting warrantless arrests near
courthouses.
“If we can do something similar statewide, I’d love to get that
done, because what’s happening with these ICE agents and courthouses
and territories around courthouses is unacceptable,” Welch said.
“People are afraid to go to court. They’re afraid to comply with
subpoenas. We can’t allow that. These should be safe spaces.”
Illinois governor denounces tear gas use
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker suggested federal agents may have violated
a ruling by a federal judge last week that said they could not use
tear gas, pepper spray and other weapons on journalists and peaceful
protesters after a coalition of news outlets and protesters sued
over the actions of federal agents during protests outside a
Chicago-area ICE facility. Pritzker said he expected the attorneys
involved to “go back to court to make sure that is enforced against
ICE”
“ICE is causing this mayhem," he said. "They’re the ones throwing
tear gas when people are peacefully protesting.”
The comments also come after Pritzker denounced Border Patrol agents
for using tear gas on protesters who gathered Tuesday after a
high-speed street chase on Chicago's South Side.
Community efforts to oppose ICE have also ramped up in the nation’s
third-largest city, where neighborhood groups have assembled to
monitor ICE activity and film any incidents involving federal
agents.
On Tuesday, hundreds of people attended “Whistlemania” events
citywide and made thousands of “whistle kits” with whistles, “Know
Your Rights” flyers and instructions on how to use them to alert
neighbors of when immigration enforcement agents are nearby.
An increasing number of GoFundMe pages have also been launched to
pay for legal costs for community members detained by ICE, most
recently a landscaper and father of three detained recently.
____
AP reporter John O'Connor in Springfield contributed.
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