A federal appellate court ruling means that McHenry and Kankakee counties must stop housing federal immigration detainees, who now may be released or transferred to other jails out of state.

       “The County has formally exercised the termination provision of its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) yesterday,” McHenry County officials announced in a statement Friday. “Pursuant to the contract, ICE will have thirty days to remove all detainees from the McHenry County Jail.”

       The decision marks a historic victory for immigration activists, who had pushed McHenry County to end the practice, calling it an inhumane and costly way to break up families.

       An immigrant who was detained years ago is in the McHenry County Jail in Woodstock on March 7, 2017. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

       The Coalition to Cancel the ICE contract in McHenry County issued a statement that “a dream that was fought for by many throughout the years was finally realized.”

       Activists had protested the detentions as “institutionalized racism” over the past decade, the coalition stated, making the end “a miraculous amazing moment.”

       After heated debate in May, the county board voted 15-8 to continue the contract to hold people accused of immigration violations.

       But last summer, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law the Illinois Way Forward Act, which prohibited counties from entering such ICE contracts, effective on Jan. 1.

       McHenry and Kankakee county officials filed suit calling the law unconstitutional, saying it violated the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which prohibits states from interfering with federal law.

       A federal judge ruled against the counties, which then asked the appellate court to delay the ruling pending an appeal.

       But a three-judge panel ruled Wednesday against any further delay, writing, “We conclude that the counties have not made a ‘strong showing’ that they are likely to succeed on the merits.”

       The judges ruled that the law primarily restricts local governments, with only a limited restriction on the federal government. County officials previously said they would appeal.

       Immigration advocates were happy to see the ICE contracts end, but Fred Tsao, senior policy counsel for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said they would try to free the 55 detainees in McHenry and 39 in Kankakee.

       “We are working with several allied organizations to push ICE to release the people held at McHenry and Kankakee, and NOT transferred elsewhere,” he wrote in an email to the Tribune. “Ultimately we believe that ICE detention is cruel and unnecessary, and should be ended altogether not just here in Illinois but nationwide.”

       Supporters of detention say it’s necessary to make sure detainees show up for their hearings and possible deportation. Opponents say most detainees are not criminals, and show up for the civil immigration hearings.

       ICE paid McHenry $95 per day per detainee. Revenues after cost deductions ranged from about $3 million to $4.6 million in recent years, but fell to $400,000 with fewer detainees in 2021.

       Federal officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. When downstate Pulaski County ended its ICE contract last year, an ICE spokeswoman said detainees were reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and either released or transferred to other ICE detention facilities, taking into consideration immediate family, attorney of record, and status of removal proceedings.

       “Federal immigration laws mandate the detention of certain noncitizens, including terrorists, immigrants with certain criminal convictions, new arrivals, and individuals in the expedited removal process,” public affairs officer Erin Bultje wrote. “ICE will continue to focus its limited resources on national security, border security, and public safety.”

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