Illinois Prosecutors Shared Defendant Data With ICE in 1 of 6 Counties

August 25, 2026 at 04:00 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Prosecutors in 1 of every 6 Illinois counties shared sensitive personal data about defendants with federal immigration agents during the first 15 months of President Donald Trump's second term, according to emails reviewed by Injustice Watch. The collaboration included sending birth dates, addresses, and court dates without criminal warrants, public disclosure, or legislative oversight. The exchanges crossed party lines and typically occurred without the knowledge of defendants or their attorneys.

Key Facts

State's attorneys offices in 1 out of every 6 Illinois counties shared sensitive personal data about defendants with federal immigration agencies during the first 15 months of President Donald Trump's second term.
The collaboration included sending birth dates, addresses, and court dates without criminal warrants, public disclosure, or legislative oversight.
The exchanges crossed party lines and included everyone from paralegals to elected state's attorneys.
The collaboration typically happened without the knowledge of defendants or their attorneys.
Illinois' 2017 TRUST Act bars police and other agencies from helping federal agents deport people absent a federal criminal warrant, but the law does not squarely answer whether prosecutors and their staff are bound by those same restrictions.

The Samayoa Case

Rolando Perez Samayoa came to the US in 2023 seeking safety after fleeing violence in Mexico. After a DUI arrest in Marion County last October, Samayoa attended his hearings, a fact confirmed by court records. In late January, John Christeson, an assistant state's attorney in the office prosecuting the case, emailed an agent with Homeland Security Investigations about Samayoa. The message included Samayoa's date of birth, an upcoming court date, and where he lived: Centralia, Illinois. Three weeks later, federal agents apprehended Samayoa outside his home and also took his 17-year-old son.

Pattern of Collaboration

The exchange is among dozens of emails reviewed by Injustice Watch that reveal a pattern of consequential collaboration between county prosecutors and federal immigration agencies across Illinois. Sometimes, prosecutors volunteered information on their own; other times, they simply answered when Department of Homeland Security agents came calling. The correspondence crossed party lines and included everyone from paralegals to elected state's attorneys. The collaboration typically happened without the knowledge of defendants or their attorneys.

Legal Ambiguity and Enforcement

The TRUST Act bars police and other agencies from helping federal agents deport people absent a federal criminal warrant. But the law doesn't squarely answer whether prosecutors and their staff are bound by those same restrictions. Since Trump took office for the second time, his administration has ramped up immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation. ICE has visibly displayed its enforcement at worksites, front yards, and courthouses. In response, states including New York have joined Illinois and more than a dozen others in barring local police and sheriffs from helping with federal immigration enforcement.