Officials, advocates warn ICE targeting Cook County domestic violence courthouse

CHICAGO — Elected officials and advocates for both domestic violence survivors and immigrant rights are warning of an uptick in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence around Cook County’s Domestic Violence Courthouse, in violation of both an order from the chief judge and a new state law.

The warning comes after an ICE agent allegedly showed up Thursday at the courthouse at 555 W. Harrison St. in Chicago “with the intent to take a person who was appearing in court into custody,” according to county officials. As of Thursday evening, county officials were not aware of any arrest made earlier in the day.

But it’s the fifth known incident of ICE presence at Cook County courthouses in a little over a month, three of which have resulted in arrests.

In a news conference late Thursday afternoon, elected officials and advocates condemned the Trump administration for continuing to send ICE agents to courthouses, even after Gov. JB Pritzker’s December signature on a state law prohibiting civil immigration arrests at or near courthouses.

“The Trump administration, fully aware of Illinois law, has shown up at domestic violence court again and again,” state Sen. Graciela Guzmán, D-Chicago, said. “They are not confused. They are not acting in a gray area. They are knowingly and willingly violating the law of this state.”

At the height of the Trump administration’s Chicago area-focused “Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement campaign in October, Democrats who control the General Assembly approved legislation banning civil immigration arrests in and around state courthouses. The law also allows Illinois residents to sue immigration agents who violate their constitutional right to due process and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

But soon after the governor signed the bill into law, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit in federal court over the law. The case is ongoing.

Also in October, an order from Cook County’s chief judge prohibited federal immigration agents from making warrantless civil arrests in or around county courthouses.

Cook County Deputy Public Defender for Policy Sharlyn Grace said ICE seemed to be changing its tactics in response to the new state law and the judge’s order.

“Before … ICE was marching into our courthouses,” she said. “They were arresting people outside of courtrooms and marching them out of courthouses in handcuffs in plain view of everyone.”

But now, Grace alleged agents are “sometimes identifying themselves as U.S. marshals, who “could have other legitimate and criminal warrant-based interests in a Cook County criminal courthouse.” She said court officials “don’t know if that identification is deceptive.”

Regardless, the new tactics have made it difficult to find out about arrests, Grace said. Had it not been for a bystander capturing and posting video of a public defender client’s arrest to social media, the office may not have been made aware of it until much later. Grace said that as far as her office knew, the three people arrested in February and March remain in immigration detention.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle alleged ICE’s new strategy “directly impedes the ability of our courts to advance justice.” She said she’d called both the chief judge and Cook County sheriff on Thursday after being informed of the agent’s presence at the courthouse.

“I think it’s important, first of all, to have both the chief judge and the sheriff on the same page and be sure that there’s prompt notification these folks are in our facilities,” she said. “And I would hope and expect that they’re denied entrance.”

Guzmán said agents’ presence at domestic violence court is particularly pernicious, and “sends a really sick message” to survivors “that your pain will be used against you.”

“It already takes enormous courage to seek protection, to show up, to tell the truth, to ask the court for help,” she said. “To walk into a courtroom and be met with fear, intimidation and the threat of detention is a profound betrayal of justice. … Domestic violence court is not a hunting ground.”

Cook County 7^th District Commissioner Alma Anaya agreed, recalling her mother’s experience as an undocumented immigrant and victim of domestic violence years ago.

“If there was even the slightest risk that she would have been arrested or detained by ICE, I believe that she wouldn’t have sought out safety and justice for her and our family,” she said.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.

Hannah Meisel

Hannah has been covering Illinois government and politics since 2014, and since then has worked for a variety of outlets from NPR affiliate stations to a startup newsletter. She’s a graduate of both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the U of I’s Springfield campus, where she received an M.A. through the Public Affairs Reporting program and got her start reporting in the Capitol.