FIRST ON FOX: Chicago-area officials released more than 400 illegal immigrants arrested on criminal charges amid the Trump administration’s 2025 immigration enforcement surge, public records obtained by a conservative legal group show.
“Cook County and the State of Illinois have turned sanctuary policies into a deadly shield for criminal illegal aliens,” Will Scolinos, an America First Legal attorney, said in a comment to Fox News Digital of the data.
“By releasing hundreds of illegal aliens despite explicit ICE detainers in just one year, sanctuary laws endangered American lives. The tragic murder of Sheridan Gorman is the predictable outcome of pro-illegal alien madness that has infiltrated the Blue States,” he added.
Illinois law generally bars state and local law enforcement from honoring ICE detainers or transferring people to immigration authorities unless presented with a federal criminal warrant. Sanctuary policies like those in Illinois have become a political flash point, drawing the ire of the Trump administration as it accuses Democratic governors of imperiling community safety by failing to hand over illegal immigrants.
“The safest way to arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets is by lodging arrest detainers,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Because sanctuary cities refuse to work with ICE law enforcement, criminal illegal aliens are released from jails into American communities to perpetuate more crimes.”
America First Legal’s data, which was obtained through a public records request, covers January to December 2025.
Though Cook County released most of the illegal immigrants federal authorities wanted to apprehend, records show that the county transferred 86 jailed illegal immigrants to federal custody in 2025.
The DHS spokesperson noted that some of the illegal immigrants held in jails may have committed serious crimes in their home countries that don’t appear in American records.
Controversy surrounding how Illinois handles illegal immigrants arrested by local law enforcement came to a head in March when Jose Medina-Medina, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, allegedly shot and killed Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old college student in Chicago.
Medina-Medina was previously arrested in Illinois on charges of shoplifting in 2023 and was released rather than deported, which conservatives have pointed to while criticizing the state’s approach to immigration enforcement.
President Donald Trump blamed Illinois’ sanctuary policies for the death, while Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker accused the president of “politicizing” the killing and called on his administration to provide more public safety funding.
Illegal immigrants are far less likely to be convicted of crimes than native-born Americans, data compiled by the libertarian Cato Institute has found. Democrats cite similar findings to counter the Trump administration’s claim that illegal immigrants are dangerous. Illegal immigrants detained in connection with suspected crimes, however, may pose a greater risk than the broader population of illegal immigrants.
The DHS spokesperson claimed that “nearly 70% of ICE arrests” involve illegal immigrants charged or convicted of a crime in the United States.
Pritzker, a vocal opponent of federal deportation efforts, signed the Illinois Way Forward Act in 2021. The legislation prohibits local law enforcement agencies from signing immigration enforcement contracts with the federal government and limits their ability to investigate the immigration status of individuals detained on suspicion of crimes.
“Throughout my governorship, I’ve directed my administration to adopt policies that make Illinois a welcoming state for immigrants, and I’m proud to sign these accountability measures into law to advance our cause,” Pritzker said at the time. “Every family, every child, every human being deserves to feel safe and secure in the place they call home. I am committed to making sure that value defines what it means to live in Illinois.”
The Trump administration has threatened to withhold funding from jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement operations, including Chicago.
Fox News Digital reached the Illinois Office of the Governor via email on Tuesday morning for comment.
