As the Trump administration moves to tighten immigration law enforcement and knock down so-called "Sanctuary" policies in Illinois and elsewhere, Democrats in Chicago and Springfield have indicated they will move to increase the ability of the Cook County Public Defender's office, which in constitutionally tasked with representing indigent individuals in criminal courts, to also represent illegal immigrants facing deportation procedures.
Last week, the Illinois state House of Representatives' Immigration and Human Rights Committee voted along party lines to advance new legislation that would explicitly authorize the Cook County Public Defender's Immigration Unit to represent immigrants with "ties to the county" facing deportation procedures in immigration courts both within Cook County and perhaps anywhere else in the U.S.
That state legislation would follow on a resolution passed by the Cook County Board in early February that similarly gave the Public Defender's office the authority to expand the mission of its Immigration Unit. That measure passed 17-1, with the county board's lone Republican, Commissioner Sean Morrison, opposed.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle
| Cook County
The measures would build on the authority previously granted three years ago by Illinois state lawmakers and the County Board to the Public Defender's office to begin representing people involved in immigration court proceedings.
However, the measures also come at a time when concerns over immigration enforcement have also brought the state of Illinois and Cook County into conflict with the administration of President Donald Trump.
The Justice Department, for instance, filed suit in February in federal court, seeking a court order blocking the state, as well as Cook County and the city of Chicago from enforcing their so-called "Sanctuary" or "Welcoming" laws and ordinances.
Those "Sanctuary" policies generally forbid local and state police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
And the Justice Department asserted those laws and ordinances serve to unconstitutionally and illegally interfere with federal immigration law enforcement and protect illegal immigrants from deportation.
Illinois first changed the law to permit the Cook County Public Defender to represent clients in immigration court in 2022.
That measure was pushed by activists who seek to oppose deportations and other actions to enforce U.S. immigration laws. That law was also approved along party lines in the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker, also a Democrat.
Supporters of the law change said at the time it was intended to protect immigrants by providing them with a publicly-funded attorney to represent them, when many cannot afford such legal representation.
Since immigrants facing deportation do not have a constitutional right to an attorney, as they would in criminal court, supporters of the law said they believed it was important to give them legal representation at no charge to them to uphold their rights to due process.
At the time that measure was passed, activists who were part of the so-called Defenders for All Coalition said data showed people embroiled in immigration court proceedings are "10.5 times more likely to have a successful outcome in their immigration proceedings if they have legal representation."
The Latino Policy Forum organization, for instance, specifically noted the new law would "provide noncitizens with a higher chance of not being detained or deported and will truly allow immigrant families a change at staying together."
During comments to the House Committee considering the new legislation, a representative of the Public Defender's Office said the Immigration Unit takes on clients in different ways. Some contact the office directly, others are revealed through criminal proceedings in Cook County court, and others are referred to the office, he said.
According to a fact sheet posted on the Public Defender's website, the Public Defender's Office said those represented by the Immigration Unit "must have connections to Cook County via residency or current or former representation by the Cook County Public Defender's Office."
The fact sheet further notes the Public Defender's Office accepts cases "through the Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance."
According to the MIDA webpage, MIDA is a coalition involving several immigration activist organizations, including the National Immigrant Justice Center, The Resurrection Project and The Immigration Project, as well as Cook County Public Defender.
MIDA describes itself as an organization which "seeks to provide high-quality immigration legal services for free to detained immigrants" facing deportation proceedings.
The Public Defender's office under current Public Defender Sharone Mitchell currently employs four attorneys to work in its Immigration Unit.
According to records obtained by The Record under the Freedom of Information Act, as of February 2025, they are identified as supervisor Hena Mansori and attorneys Guadalupe Perez, Cruz Rodriguez and Marco Becerra.
According to those public records, the Public Defender's office has represented 151 people in immigration-related proceedings since the immigration unit first began in 2022. In 2024, the Public Defender's office represented 59 clients, the most since the program's inception, according to county records.
According to those records, the Public Defender's office has spent at least $1.1 million on the Immigration Unit from 2022 to February 2025.
According to county budget records, much of the annual funding for the Immigration Unit initially came through grants supplied by the JB and MK Pritzker Family Foundation.
The foundation is a philanthropic organization run by Gov. Pritzker and his wife, MK Pritzker, who are billionaires. According to public records and announcements, the Pritzker Family Foundation has donated millions to schools and causes important to the Pritzker couple, including large donations to left-wing political organizations.
According to county budget records and published reports, the Pritzker Family Foundation awarded the Cook County Public Defender's Office a $300,000 grant to help start the Immigration Unit.
Most recently, county budget records showed the Pritzker Family Foundation donated a $550,000 grant to the Public Defender to help fund the Immigration Unit in 2023.
County budget records, however, show the Immigration Unit did not receive a similar grant in 2024, nor was it expected to receive such support from the Pritzkers in 2025.
According to county budget projections, the Public Defender has estimated the county will spend $811,562 on the Immigration Unit in 2025.
However, critics have said they believe the costs will only continue to rise in years to come, as the scope of the Public Defender's Immigration Unit continues to expand.
At the recent House Committee hearing on the new legislation, known as House Bill 2436, State Rep. Adam Niemerg, R-Dietrich, said he believed it was inevitable that the program would attract more potential clients.
Niemerg compared it to other public programs offered to illegal immigrants in Illinois, such as state-funded health care. He noted a recent state audit showed the state had been stuck with a bill for $1.6 billion to provide health services to illegal immigrants, overrunning cost estimates by as much as 286%, depending on the exact program, as the programs attracted tens of thousands more participants than the state had estimated.
"Everybody's been coming to Chicago to get their health insurance," said Niemberg, while questioning a representative of the Public Defender's office about the legislation. "Now everybody's going to be coming to Chicago to get represented.
"... You're going to be overwhelmed immediately."
Supporters of the new legislation on the committee, however, disputed that assertion.
A sponsor of HB2436, State Rep. Jennifer Gong Gershowitz, D-Glenview, said the expansion of the immigration division program is a "consistent" continuation of the division's mission.
Gong-Gershowitz said she and other supporters of the measure believe the Immigration Unit is all but required to allow Cook County to fulfill its constitutional duties to immigrants facing deportation under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 decision known as Padilla v Kentucky. In that decision, the Supreme Court ruled the state and criminal defense attorneys must advise immigrant clients of the risk of deportation that may arise from pleading guilty to a crime.
Currently, Gong-Gershowitz noted the Cook County Public Defender represents clients in Chicago Immigration Court, which can include those with "ties to Cook County" who are detained in Illinois, Indiana or Wisconsin.
Gong-Gershowitz the primary thrust of the bill is to ensure the Public Defender is empowered to defend immigration clients should those with "connections to Cook County" face deportation proceedings elsewhere in the country.
"We want to make sure that if there is an immigration court opened in Indianapolis or somewhere else, and Cook County residents, people who have a longstanding relationship here in the state of Illinois and in Cook County, are detained out of state that the Cook County Public Defender's Office can continue to represent those clients," Gong-Gershowtiz said.
Gong-Gershowitz acknowledged the Public Defender's Office lacks "the capacity" to take on "every case." But she said the Public Defender also maintains discretion to decide whether to take on particular cases.
Gong-Gershowitz asserted the legislation will have no financial impact on the Illinois state budget, as the program is administered and funded entirely through Cook County.
Gong-Gershowitz further noted that, since the onset of the Covid pandemic, immigration proceedings have been conducted remotely, via Webex. Further, she said, all communications with detained immigrants represented by the Public Defender's Office are conducted by "secure telecommunications."
Niemerg, however, worried continuing to expand taxpayer-funded representation for illegal immigrants could deepen the conflict between the Illinois state and county governments and the federal government under President Trump.
HB2436 would take effect immediately upon its passage and signature from Gov. Pritzker.
It has not yet been scheduled for a vote in the state House.
A spokesperson for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle did not respond to questions from The Record concerning why the County Board believed authorizing the Public Defender to represent immigration clients in proceedings outside of Cook County represents a prudent use of county resources.
Following the February Cook County Board vote, the board's lone Republican member, Commissioner Morrison, posted a statement on social media platform X.com, saying: "I strongly object to the idea of using Cook County government resources beyond our jurisdiction. This is fundamentally unfair to the hardworking taxpayers of Cook County, who should not be burdened with funding legal representation outside our county lines.
"Beyond the financial irresponsibility, this measure runs counter to federal law regarding the removal of criminal illegal migrants. The primary duty of our government should be to protect our own citizens — ensuring public safety and preserving limited financial resources. This should never be a controversial position."