(The Center Square) – As Democrat legislators have moved legislation to restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations within Illinois, one GOP senator revived efforts to allow local law enforcement to work with the federal agency.
State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, has introduced Senate Bill 4196, which would change the Illinois TRUST Act to allow law enforcement officers in the state to open lines of communication with federal immigration officials.
“My bill would basically reopen the lines of communication between Illinois law enforcement and our federal partners,” Rose said. “It would importantly remove the prohibitions against agreements to detain individuals – and by the way, this would apply when federal law enforcement comes with a valid and forcible federal warrant. That’s critical.”
Rose was joined by Joe Abraham – who is known as an ‘angel parent’ because his 20-year-old daughter, Katie Abraham, died in a 2025 hit-and-run caused by a driver residing illegally in Illinois.
Abraham said his daughter would still likely be alive if not for current Illinois law.
According to public records, Julio Cucul Bol, a 29-year-old citizen of Guatemala, is alleged to have fled the scene after rear-ending the car containing five passengers in Urbana, resulting in the deaths of Katie and 21-year-old Chloe Polzin.
Cucul Bol was detained by the U.S. Marshals Service in Milford, Texas while aboard a bus travelling to Mexico. He faces additional charges for using the false name Juan Suarez, for which he had allegedly forged U.S. and Mexican identification documents.
“This law would have protected Katie. Why? When Julio Cucul Bol came into our country as Juan Suarez in Illinois, the federal government, U.S. Marshals knew he wasn’t Juan Suarez from Mexico,” said the father. “Working with the federal partners, he wouldn’t have been in Illinois, he wouldn’t have killed two women.”
Rose said his bill is rooted in common sense, and characterized current state law as “insane.”
“This is crying out for people to stop the rhetoric and instead focus on common sense – or what used to be common sense. Law enforcement should be able to cooperate, ” Rose said. “And for goodness sake, the first goal and objective of any government should be to keep the people of that jurisdiction safe.”
Both Rose and Abraham said the bill is neither an intent or request for law enforcement in the state to become de facto ICE agents. The bill, however, entirely strikes language present in current law that prohibits officers from participating or assisting immigration operations entirely.
Having only been introduced, it is uncertain whether the legislature will take up the proposal while both chambers approach the end of legislative session.
The temperature in the legislature may not favor Rose’s bill, as a House bill restricting immigration detention centers has recently progressed to the Senate, and Democratic lawmakers are expected to put forward a resolution calling for ICE agents to remain away from polling stations for the upcoming general election in November.
