New bill would ban ICE agents from becoming law enforcement officers in Illinois

New bill would ban ICE agents from becoming law enforcement officers in Illinois

An Illinois state senator is backing legislation that would prohibit federal immigration agents from becoming law enforcement officers in the state.

ILLINOIS - An Illinois state senator is backing legislation that would prohibit federal immigration agents from becoming law enforcement officers in the state.

What we know:

Sen. Laura Fine, a Democrat, says the proposal is rooted in differences between training standards for local police officers and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. 

She said police departments across Illinois require extensive and detailed training before officers can be certified, while ICE agents receive an average of about 47 days of training.

Fine said the shorter training period leaves ICE agents ill-prepared for de-escalation, a deficiency she said has contributed to violent encounters with civilians in communities across the country.

What they're saying:

"The realities are that these murders and the devastation that we're seeing is preventable and while the stories of Renee (Goode) and Alex (Pretti) are very prominent, they're not isolated incidents," Fine said. "ICE's violence has escalated, with one major contributing factor and that being their training and recruitment practices."

What's next:

The legislation, Senate Bill 2820, is opposed by the Illinois Republican Party, which has criticized the measure as being soft on crime.