Officers from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement [ICE] took into custody a man who was in court Monday for a criminal hearing at the McLean County Law and Justice Center in Bloomington.
McLean County Sheriff Matt Lane characterized the incident as isolated and rare, and said ICE agents making arrests at the McLean County courthouse used to be more frequent.
“It happened on a regular basis for several years. It’s kind of slowed down,” said Lane, adding that the McLean County sheriff’s office was not notified in advance of ICE’s arrival and did not assist ICE officers in the arrest. The Illinois Trust Act, signed in 2017, limits the role local police can play in cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
McLean County court records show Emmanuel Marroquin-Jimenez was in court on misdemeanor criminal trespass and theft charges when ICE detained him.
Marroquin-Jimenez also faces criminal trespass and retail theft charges in other pending cases in McLean County. He was sentenced last December to 30 months probation after pleading guilty to felony aggravated battery.
Born in 1982, Marroquin-Jimenez has various criminal charges in McLean County dating back to August 2020. He is being held in ICE custody at the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center in Missouri, according to ICE’s online records.
Lane said ICE officers informed him Marroquin-Jimenez had been deported previously before re-entering the United States. ICE"s online records show Marroquin-Jimenez is from Mexico.
Lane said he recalls ICE arrests at the courthouse were a more regular occurrence from 2010 to 2020. He was in charge of courthouse security during part of that time.
Lane said based on past experience, ICE officers have come to McLean County in cases where they are can either detain multiple undocumented immigrants, or someone with a “serious” criminal record.
“[ICE officers] have to come from either Chicago or St. Louis. They don’t come for just anybody,” said Lane, adding while he would not receive prior notification of an ICE raid, there’s no indication that ICE plans to step up immigration enforcement in McLean County.
“I would imagine there are plenty [of undocumented immigrants] and there are people that show up for court every day with no problem,” Lane said.
The arrest comes at a time when the Trump administration has ramped up deportation efforts. ICE raids at businesses in Los Angeles last weekend prompted protests and civil unrest. President Trump responded by calling in the California National Guard and the Marines [over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom].
Demonstrations are planned in Chicago on Thursday in response to a tip that ICE is planning “potentially the worst raids-to-date in Chicago and Illinois” on Thursday and Friday, according to an email from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness obtained by WGLT.
The raids will focus on “where people live, find work and worksites themselves,” said the email.
At an immigration event in Bloomington in March, Bloomington Police Sgt. Kiel Nowers sought to assure immigrants that they should not fear law enforcement if they needed to go to court, school or place of worship or to report a crime.
“Local law enforcement cannot control what actions various federal agencies can take. We can only control what actions our own officers can take,” Nowers said in an email. “We truly want all of our residents to feel safe in our community and with all interactions they have with local law enforcement personnel.“
Lauren Warnecke and Charlie Schlenker contributed to this report.
