ILLINOIS & MINNESOTA: Capitol News Recap | Wednesday, Jan. 28
Violent immigration enforcement scenes that played out in Illinois have shifted to Minnesota, but Illinois leaders are still intently watching the scene unfold.
Just one day before a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a brief supporting a lawsuit in Minnesota that asks a judge to force the federal government to stop its current form of immigration enforcement in the state.
Raoul filed a similar lawsuit seeking to end immigration enforcement in Illinois. It alleged the federal government’s aggressive immigration campaign is an “organized bombardment” to coerce state and local officials to change their immigration and other policies.
“The violence being brought upon people of Minnesota by federal CBP and ICE agents is the result of the president’s obsession with forcing states to comply with his policies and seeking retribution against his political enemies,” Raoul said in a statement.
A federal judge in Oregon, meanwhile, tossed the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit that sought to force the state to divulge its complete, unredacted voter rolls. The case doesn’t have a direct effect on a similar one that the DOJ brought against Illinois (and more than 20 other states).
But U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled the DOJ had no basis under law to make the request. He had scheduled the hearing to allow both parties to discuss what a recent letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi to the state of Minnesota meant for the case.
Bondi wrote Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz could “bring an end to the chaos in Minnesota” by taking “three simple steps”: Allow the federal government to access all the state’s record on Medicaid and food assistance; repeal all sanctuary policies; and give the DOJ access to voter rolls.
Illinois, like more than 20 other states, has denied the DOJ’s calls for voter rolls.
Immigration enforcement was also a major talking point at the first debate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Monday night.
The candidates sparred over whether ICE should be permanently abolished and who is fighting harder for the rights of both citizens and immigrants. Brenden Moore has more details on that.
We also have details about federal funding for rural health care Illinois recently received, an update on flu cases in Illinois and look at a recent Supreme Court decision affecting controversial medical supply sterilization company Sterigenics.
Federal funding
Illinois’ Democratic U.S. Senate primary heats up over ICE
Illinois’ once-sleepy Democratic primary for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat heated up Monday night as the three leading contenders used their first live debate to cast themselves as the strongest bulwark against President Donald Trump and his administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
The hourlong debate, hosted by the Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and the University of Chicago, came in wake of two deadly shootings involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month that have sparked national outcry – and echoed the enforcement campaign that targeted and disrupted the Chicago region last fall.
Providers say feds’ new rural health care grants to Illinois won’t cover Medicaid cuts
Illinois will receive $193 million for each of the next five years to expand health care access for the approximately 1.9 million people in rural areas — or about $101 annually for every rural Illinoisan. Grant allotments ranged from $66 per rural resident in Texas to $6,305 in Rhode Island.
But health care organizations said the money will not be enough to compensate for Medicaid cuts: “These funds are good, and we’re going to put them to good use, but it’s not a solution,” said Jordan Powell, senior vice president of health policy and finance for the Illinois Health and Hospital Association.
Flu cases
Illinois sees its worst flu season in recent years as vaccine skepticism grows
Flu cases are increasing rapidly in Illinois as the state sees its worst flu season in more than 15 years. At least 100 people have died from the flu this season in Illinois, with 77 of those deaths occurring this month alone, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Children and the elderly have been the most-affected age groups. So far, there have been three pediatric fatalities in Illinois this flu season, IDPH reports.
Illinois Supreme Court
State permit doesn’t automatically entitle Sterigenics to pollution coverage, court finds
Insurers are not necessarily required to pay out on pollution-related claims to companies with a standard liability policy, even if the company has a state permit for pollutants, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled last week.
Capitol News Illinois reporters in the news
Ben Szalinski discusses the state budget with Patrick Pfingsten in Springfield
Brenden Moore talks about a recent GOP gubernatorial forum, a new ad supporting Juliana Stratton, the signing of the Clean Slate Act and session expectations on CapitolView in southern Illinois.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
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