GoKawiilIllinois County Prosecutors Fed Immigrant Data to ICE Despite Sanctuary Law
Emails obtained through public records requests show that state's attorneys in roughly one-sixth of Illinois counties shared personal details about immigrants facing local charges with federal immigration agents. One case involved Marion County prosecutor John Christeson sending a Homeland Security Investigations agent the birth date, address and court schedule of Rolando Perez Samayoa, a man facing a DUI charge, who was arrested by federal agents weeks later along with his teenage son.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Illinois's TRUST Act was designed to wall off local law enforcement from federal deportation efforts, but these disclosures show prosecutors bypassing that firewall through informal cooperation with ICE-linked agencies. The pattern suggests sanctuary protections can be undermined at the discretion of local officials, exposing immigrants who show up to court in good faith to sudden detention and family separation.
- Prosecutors in about one-sixth of Illinois counties shared immigrant defendants' personal data with federal agents.
- The cooperation appears to circumvent the state's 2017 TRUST Act meant to limit local-federal immigration enforcement ties.
- At least one immigrant and his minor son were detained by ICE shortly after a prosecutor tipped off federal agents.
Source: wired.com — Aura Bogado, 2026-08-25
Published there as: “The County Prosecutors Who Became ICE Informants”
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