South Cook News

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau has expressed his support for the U.S. government's recent lawsuit against the State of Illinois, Chicago and several local elected officials over sanctuary policies that the Justice Department argues obstruct federal immigration enforcement.

Pekau is a vocal critic of local sanctuary laws as challenged by the Department of Justice. 

"I think it’s fantastic that the Trump administration and the new attorney general are taking this on," Pekau told South Cook News. "Here in Orland Park, we passed, over a year ago, an ordinance stating we are not a sanctuary city and we would cooperate with federal officials, and that's because we think that federal law trumps state and county law."

The DOJ’s lawsuit targets local ordinances such as the Chicago Welcoming ordinance and the Illinois Trust Act, which prevent law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to arrest and deport illegal aliens. 

“The challenged provisions of Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County law reflect their intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and to impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” the lawsuit states. 

Since 2021, an estimated 7.2 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, a figure that exceeds the population of 36 U.S. states.

The Center for Immigration Studies reports that Illinois now has the fifth-largest population of illegal aliens in the U.S., with around 530,000 residing in the state, largely due to its sanctuary status and access to public benefits.

“(Illinois and Chicago) should be following federal law," Pekau said. "We also, at that same time, we basically asked the state and (Cook) County to rescind their sanctuary laws. So, I think it’s great that if they won't do that, I think it’s fantastic that the federal government is taking action."

Recently, ICE arrested 100 undocumented individuals in Chicago, all of whom are accused of committing various crimes.

As for the federal focus on criminal illegal aliens, Pekau said that he agrees with prioritizing the removal of individuals who have committed crimes. 

“My understanding is we're focusing on criminal illegal immigrants, which is where the first priority should be," Pekau said. "These people have shown they’re going to commit additional crimes when they’re here. But we need to keep us safe. If they find that they’re here, we would cooperate with them. But we haven’t had any indication that they’ve needed us in any way."

Pekau’s support for the federal lawsuit aligns with his ongoing commitment to ensuring Orland Park remains a non-sanctuary city. 

In fact, just days before the lawsuit was filed, Pekau’s administration reaffirmed the ordinance passed over a year ago and expressed full support for a bill filed in the State Senate providing for the repeal of the Illinois Trust Act. 

Pekau acknowledged his firm stance in favor of legal immigration. 

“All of us are for legal immigration,” he said.  Most of us hail from immigrants at some point. But it needs to be done legally, and people need to go through the process. It's really a slap in the face of the people who are part of the process. But this is happening."

Pekau voiced sharp criticism of Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, accusing them of prioritizing illegal aliens and criminals over law-abiding citizens. 

"We have a governor that prioritizes illegal immigrants and prioritizes criminals over law-abiding citizens," he said. "They did it with the Safe-T Act, they’re doing it with the migrant crisis, period. And Brandon Johnson's exactly the same."

Since July 2022, Illinois taxpayers have spent an estimated $2.84 billion on services for illegal aliens, not including education costs and other local services. 

Republican lawmakers have criticized the growing expenses, contending that taxpayer funds are being diverted from vital programs for Illinois residents.

Similarly, Pekau denounced the profligate spending by the State of Illinois on behalf of illegal aliens. 

"So you’re diverting that money away to support illegal immigrants,” he said. “I think that’s absurd….they have to raise property taxes to cover those losses."

Pekau expressed concern about financial issues affecting municipalities statewide, highlighting the reduction in Local Government Distributive Funds (LGDF), which he argued has led to a significant loss of funding for Orland Park and other local governments.

He estimated that Orland Park has lost around $58 million due to these cuts.

“I think the money they’ve been keeping from municipalities is about $1 billion,” Pekau said. “Local governments, many of them, can’t fund their operations because all of a sudden this money’s gone. Orland Park is blessed in that we have a booming economy and we can cover that loss. But other towns to the east of us—Harvey, Posen, those types of places—they can’t. They’re not getting that money, and then all of a sudden, they have to cut back on police, fire, all the things that protect their citizens.”

When it comes to the allocation of public funds, Pekau stressed the importance of prioritizing local citizens over illegal aliens. 

"Our tax dollars, at the end of the day, are going to support illegal immigrants," Pekau said. "Let’s support our citizens. We have citizens here who are also suffering. We have homeless citizens, and those are all problems we have to address. We should be using that money to help address those issues with the programs, rather than paying for illegals."