Prairie State Wire

Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton) worries that by signing the Trust Act into law, Gov. Bruce Rauner has disregarded other noted regulations long seen as fundamental.  

“The bill Gov. Rauner signed violates the spirit of cooperation between local state and federal government,” Ives told Prairie State Wire of the bill that prevents local law enforcement from detaining individuals based solely on their immigration status and limits local agencies’ cooperation with federal immigration officials.

“We here in Illinois have had a number of cases where people not turned over to (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) happened and justice not served,” Ives said.

Rep. Jeanne Ives (R-Wheaton)

The recent acquittal of immigrant Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who was in the country illegally, on murder charges in the 2015 killing of Kate Steinle in California has again moved the immigration debate front and center across the country, with Illinois being among the states stuck directly in the middle.

Beyond the Steinle case, the political action committee Make America Great Again is lumping Chicago with a number of other "sanctuary cities" it is pushing to have federal funding stripped away from based on their refusal to work with federal immigration officials. The Justice Department had given Illinois until Dec. 8 to respond.

Ives, who recently launched her Republican primary campaign against Rauner, isn’t waiting to take action.

“Here in Illinois, the most prominent case is that of Dennis McCann,” she said of the local man dragged to his death in 2011 after being struck by an immigrant not in the country legally. "The person responsible for that was released before justice could be done and later fled the country.”

Ives recently joined McCann’s brother, Brian, at a press conference where she called for the repeal of the Trust Act.

“The two reasons why I oppose this law are criminals being held under arrest that post bond can either escape justice or re-offend,” she said. “In the wake of the Steinle case, we decided we needed to highlight Illinois now faces the same risk.”

Ives said she has now thrown her support behind a bill introduced by Rep. John Cabello (R-Machesney Park) to repeal the Trust Act. At the McCann press conference, she said to date there have been nearly 3,400 shootings and almost 650 homicides in the city of Chicago involving undocumented immigrants.

“I'm a pro-legal-immigration conservative,” she said at the press conference. “America as a beacon of freedom and opportunity for people the world over is a good thing and should be maintained. But we cannot be without the rule of law.”