Illinois' plan to end federal immigration detention in the New Year has hit another legal snag.
Three Illinois counties with such federal agreements faced a Jan. 1 deadline to end contracts. While one in downstate Illinois complied last year, two others are involved in a federal lawsuit challenging the law. The case was dismissed last month, but a federal judge on Thursday granted an extension while an appeal is considered. Authorities in McHenry and Kankakee counties now have until Jan. 13.
"This decision will have absolutely no impact on these detainees being released," Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said in a statement after the lawsuit's dismissal."In fact, they will undoubtedly be transferred to other states, all the while forcing families of these detainees to travel much farther to visit their loved ones, all due to typical partisan Illinois politics in Springfield.
"I was very happy. I was even crying. I felt like this was a miracle," said Angel, an immigrant from Honduras who declined to give his last name out of concern for his pending immigration case. The father of four said he left Honduras to escape gang violence. The contract brings in roughly $10 million annually, a significant source of money and jobs for the northern Illinois county along the Wisconsin border with a roughly $200 million annual budget. The county jail has housed immigrant detainees since 2003.
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