We have all born witness to what happens when federal power is weaponized against the very people it is supposed to protect. Over the past months, communities across Chicagoland – our communities – and Minneapolis have been shaken by scenes that belong in history books warning us what not to become: masked federal agents jumping out of unmarked vans, grabbing residents off sidewalks, terrorizing families outside schools, hospitals and courthouses. In the most horrific incidents, they have killed innocent people exercising their constitutional rights.
Let’s be clear: this is not about public safety. This is not about order. This is a federal assault on basic human and constitutional rights. It is chaos — deliberate chaos — and it is wrong.
Like many of you, I am distraught, angry and frightened by what we’re witnessing. I never thought I would live in a country where unidentified government agents with military weapons could disappear people on American streets. I never thought I would have to reassure families that their rights still matter when they drop their children at daycare.
But here we are. And here in Illinois, we are doing something about it.
Working together, the Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus, and a broad coalition of advocates, passed a new law designed to restore some measure of dignity, accountability and basic constitutional order. I was proud to sponsor it — and prouder still to see it signed immediately into law by Gov. JB Pritzker.
The purpose is simple: your rights follow you everywhere. Into the courthouse. Onto campus. To the hospital. To your child’s daycare. No badge, no title, no mask puts anyone above the Constitution.
For too long, these federal agents have operated with impunity — hiding their faces, refusing to identify themselves, altering license plates, and using fear as a tactic without consequence. Under our new law, if agents abuse their authority, victims will have a clear legal path to hold them accountable. Illinois residents can pursue civil actions, including punitive damages when agents conceal their identities or violate longstanding rights and protections.
We also established 1,000-foot safe zones around courthouses so survivors, families and witnesses can seek justice without fearing arrest. We strengthened privacy protections in hospitals, daycares, and colleges.
The White House hates our new law, which is serving as a model for other states, and I expect it will be challenged.
But defending people’s rights has never been about choosing the easy path — it’s about choosing the just one.
Entiendo español un poquito. Entiendo justicia.
This moment demands resolve, solidarity and a reminder that Illinois will not be bullied into abandoning its people. Not now. Not ever.
Don Harmon is a lifelong Oak Park resident and president of the Illinois State Senate.
