Pritzker Admits Illinois Immigration Policies Are Failing

Yesterday, during a media availability, Governor Pritzker briefly got one thing right when he admitted there have been “real failures” in immigration enforcement. But once again, he is trying to blame the federal government for problems his own policies helped create.

Governor Pritzker wants to point fingers over the ongoing crisis of illegal immigrants committing crimes in Illinois, but he cannot escape his own record. The Governor attempted to blame Washington for bad immigration policy but under the current administration, border crossings are at their lowest levels in years.

The Governor can blame Washington all he wants, but here in Illinois, he has spent years undermining the very enforcement efforts he now claims are not working.
The Governor also said immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government. That is rich coming from someone who spent the last year attacking federal law enforcement and standing in the way of its operations. Just look at his record:

• Governor Pritzker called federal law enforcement “jackbooted thugs” for enforcing immigration laws.
• He signed the Illinois Way Forward Act, strengthening barriers that prevent federal and local law enforcement from coordinating on immigration enforcement.
• He created ICE-free zones to interfere with federal enforcement efforts.

Governor Pritzker has also argued that local and state law enforcement should be responsible for catching and prosecuting violent criminals. But thanks to the SAFE-T Act, Illinois has failed there too. Consider just a few examples:

• The illegal immigrant charged in the killing of Sheridan Gorman was arrested for shoplifting in 2023 and never showed up to court.
• A woman was set on fire on a CTA train by a criminal who was out on electronic monitoring.
• Another man was punched onto CTA tracks by someone with a long history of violent crime.

It is no surprise that Governor Pritzker is trying to blame others for the consequences of his own policies. But while he points fingers, House Republicans are advancing real solutions. HB 1479 allows the court to revoke pretrial release if a person violates their conditions of release, and HB 1482 would expand detention eligibility for pretrial release.

Illinois families deserve more than excuses. They deserve leaders who will put public safety first.