Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed suit on January 12, 2026, against the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the lawless violence that so-called “immigration enforcement” activities have unleashed in Chicago and surrounding areas. The suit alleges that federal agents under the control of the United States Border Patrol have acted as hostile occupiers in the area, indiscriminately detaining citizens and non-citizens alike, brutalizing communities with chemical weapons, and terrorizing neighborhoods.

The Trump administration has spent months unlawfully attempting to coerce Illinois into violating its own laws that limit state participation in federal civil immigration enforcement, which have been in place since 2017 to promote cooperation between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. After failing to overturn these laws in court, the administration then attempted unsuccessfully to deploy federalized National Guard troops. The surge of quasi-military, heavily armed immigration enforcement personnel is simply the latest round of the administration’s efforts to subvert Illinois’s sovereign authority. 

The suit argues that federal immigration agents violate both federal law and the Constitution on a regular basis with such actions as capturing individuals’ biometric data without consent, deploying tear gas in residential neighborhoods, concealing their identities and changing vehicle license plates, and arresting individuals without warrants or probable cause. These activities undermine Illinois’ ability to carry out its core sovereign functions, such as promoting public health, providing universal education for its residents, and protecting public safety. 

The suit asks the court to declare that certain tactics that are frequently deployed by federal immigration agents — including roving patrols, biometric scanning, warrantless arrests, tear gas, concealment of license plates, and trespass — are unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act, and it asks the court to prohibit forces from engaging in these activities and stop Customs and Border Patrol from conducting civil immigration enforcement in Illinois without express congressional authorization.

Border Patrol agents and ICE officers have acted as occupiers rather than officers of the law. They randomly, and often violently, question residents. Without warrants or probable cause, they brutally detain citizens and non-citizens alike. They use tear gas and other chemical weapons against bystanders, injuring dozens, including children, the elderly and local police officers. I filed this lawsuit to stand up for the safety of the people of Illinois and the sovereignty of our state. Attorney General Kwame Raoul