At least one murder case and multiple sexual assault and domestic violence prosecutions are being endangered because of the heavy presence of immigration officers seeking to arrest illegal immigrants at a courthouse in Chicago, a prosecutor said.
Assistant State’s Attorney Jose Villareal made the revelation in court papers filed as Illinois and Chicago sue to stop President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard.
Mr. Villareal said in the murder case, the wife of the victim has told prosecutors she “is afraid to come to court and testify for fear that she could be arrested by Homeland Security agents.”
“Their fear of arrest makes it more likely that her husband’s murderers will go free and justice will be denied,” Mr. Villareal said.
He also said in one aggravated child sexual assault case, the mother of the two victim children has repeatedly rescheduled a meeting with prosecutors because she fears bringing her children with her. And in another case, the sex assault victim’s mother won’t bring the child to court to an offer meeting out of fear of an immigration arrest.
Mr. Villareal also cited one domestic violence case where the victim declined to cooperate because she feared her spouse — the person accused in the case — would be deported.
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“In my experience as an assistant state’s attorney, noncitizen victims of crime more freely cooperated with prosecutions by my office before the recent surge in immigration enforcement by the Department of Homeland Security,” the prosecutor said.
That’s a classic defense of sanctuary jurisdictions, which argue immigrants are less likely to report crimes if they have to worry about a deportation arrest.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have disputed those sentiments in the past.
Mr. Trump has called up National Guard troops to quell what he says are unruly anti-ICE protests and too-high street crime.
Illinois and local officials blame the protests on the aggressive enforcement of immigration law by ICE, and say crime is not as bad as Mr. Trump has said.
In a filing with the judge, prosecutors said violent crimes are down so far in 2025 compared to the previous year. Homicide is down 27%, Robbery is down 34% and criminal sexual assault is down 3%.
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Police say their clearance rates for those crimes are all up, as is the rate of pre-trial detention of those accused of the crimes.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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