Kankakee sheriff says Illinois laws hinder enforcement, supports DOJ lawsuit on sanctuary status

KANKAKEE COUNTY, Ill. (WLS) -- The Kankakee sheriff said he hopes a lawsuit by the Department of Justice over Illinois' sanctuary laws can resolve ongoing frustration in the law enforcement community.

"Why are we so concerned about these individuals who are not here legally, who have some have committed violent, heinous crimes, and we're worried about whether or not a local police department is calling ICE to say, hey, this guy's in our community," said Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey.

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Downey said the Kankakee County Jail, which formerly housed more than 200 ICE detainees. He now echoes the concerns of some in the local law enforcement community about Illinois' sanctuary state status.

"Certainly this obstructs us from communicating with ICE, you know, and part of the TRUST Act is, you know, we can't even ask someone's immigration status," Downey said.

RELATED: Chicago, Illinois and Cook County sued by DOJ over sanctuary city policies

The new lawsuit from the Trump Administration's Department of Justice, alleging "upon information and believe" "countless criminals" have been released in Illinois, Cook County and Chicago have been released who should have been held for immigration removal.

"Whenever you see a lot of allegations that says upon information and belief, you call BS, because that means we can't put anybody under oath, get them in front of a judge and support that statement," said Doug Godfrey, professor emeritus of law at Chicago Kent College of Law.

"There were no specific examples of any efforts that ICE had been pursuing that were pushed back against by any component of Illinois or Cook County or Chicago," said Jackie Stevens, Northwestern University political science professor.

Still, Sheriff Downey said he has seen the impact firsthand, receiving 120 ICE detainer requests over the past four years he's been unable to honor.

"That's a lot of detainers where individuals who they already had in custody, and they were released again because we can't ask them their immigration status," he said.

READ MORE: Illinois authorities divided on TRUST Act forbidding federal immigration enforcement collaboration

But former DHS Acting Undersecretary for Intelligence John Cohen had a reminder: "A local law enforcement agency cannot obstruct a federal law enforcement agency from carrying out their lawful responsibilities, but a local agency is under no obligation to support a federal law enforcement agency when the federal law enforcement agency is solely enforcing federal law."

The I-Team has learned the initial hearing for this case will be at 9 a.m. on April 15. The city of Chicago said that it has received that lawsuit and the law department is reviewing.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said Chicago is and will remain a welcoming city.