Update: Federal Appeals Court grants order allowing McHenry County to continue housing ICE detainees
MCHENRY COUNTY – On Dec. 7, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Philip G. Reinhard made the decision to dismiss a federal lawsuit challenging the legality of Senate Bill 667 (SB 667) filed by McHenry and Kankakee counties back in September of that same year.
SB 667, otherwise known as the Illinois Way Forward Act, would force the termination of contracts local prisons have with the U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and prohibit local police from collaborating with ICE on civil immigration enforcement, making Illinois the second state in the nation to require local officials to end partnerships with ICE.
Upon the news of the lawsuit dismissal, Kankakee and McHenry counties both stated that they would seek to appeal Judge Reinhard’s decision in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office announced on Dec. 30, 2021, that the McHenry County Jail “will continue to house US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees while a federal court considers the County’s lawsuit challenging the Illinois Way Forward Act.”
The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order that allows the extension of McHenry County’s deadline to exercise the termination clause in its contract with ICE from Jan. 1 to Jan. 13 of this year, according to the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Additionally, McHenry County’s contract with ICE requires 30 days’ written notice before termination to allow ICE time to remove detainees from the jail’s custody.
“We’re very glad to get this stay to preserve our longtime contract with ICE as we argue our case,” said McHenry County Board Chairman Mike Buehler (R-Crystal Lake). “The Illinois Way Forward Act is an unconstitutional and poorly thought-out law that was hastily thrown together by the General Assembly to make a political statement regarding current federal immigration enforcement. We thank the 7th Circuit for their understanding, and we look forward to making our case.”
Buehler had previously pointed out how much the revenue from McHenry County’s ICE contract contributed to the county’s overall fiscal health. Over the last five fiscal years, McHenry County has received an average revenue of over $8 million per year from the ICE contract.
“We are pleased with this decision by a higher court,” said McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally. “We are eager to continue this fight, pushing back against hasty and politically punitive legislation micromanaging the affairs of counties at the behest of Springfield activists.”
The counties’ lawsuit alleges that the Illinois Way Forward Act violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution—which prohibits states from interfering with the federal government’s exercise of its constitutional powers—as well as case precedents forbidding state and federal government from intruding on each other’s sovereignty, according to Kenneally.
Illinois State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago), a co-sponsor of SB 667, stated that she feels that the criminal justice system should not exist to serve ICE.
“Our criminal justice system does not exist to serve ICE. Law enforcement should not aid and abet the deportation machine. Communities of color, specifically immigrant communities, need to know that they can trust law enforcement regardless of citizenship status,” Villanueva said.
She continued, “These sheriffs are the same people who profit from the jailing of immigrant communities. It is clear that they are more concerned with losing profits than with upholding the dignity and human rights of immigrants of color.”
Kankakee, McHenry, and Pulaski counties are the three counties in Illinois that have contracts to house ICE detainees.
