SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker used part of his State of the State address Wednesday to criticize federal immigration enforcement actions and contrast Illinois’ approach with federal policy.
The annual address largely centered on the governor’s proposed state budget and affordability agenda, but Pritzker devoted his last remarks to immigration, framing the issue as a broader test of national values.
“The problem for Donald Trump and Stephen Miller was that Illinoisans did notice,” Pritzker said. “Last year was not the first time a President has tried to subdue the Illinois population with hired thugs.”
Pritzker also referenced remarks from his address a year earlier, saying recent federal actions answered his warning about escalating enforcement tactics.
“Masked, unaccountable federal agents — with little training — occupied our streets, brutalized our people, tear gassed kids and cops, kidnapped parents in front of their children, detained and arrested and at times attempted to deport US citizens, and killed innocent Americans in the streets,” Pritzker said.
The governor’s comments echoed historic tensions between Illinois leaders and federal intervention. He gave the example of the 1894 Pullman labor strike where workers walked off their railroad jobs to protest a percentage cut in their wages. At the time, President Grover Cleveland sent thousands of federal marshals and troops into the state to suppress unrest, an action condemned at the time by Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld as federal overreach.
“Illinois was the canary in the coal mine for what we saw happen in Minnesota,” Pritzker said. “It’s a playbook as old as the game – overwhelm communities, provoke fear, suggest that those tasked with enforcing the law are also above it, and drip authoritarianism bit by bit into our veins in the hopes that we won’t notice we are being poisoned by it.”
According to Pritzker, federal policies have cost Illinois residents $8.4 billion through tariff taxes on working families and small businesses, trade wars devastating farmers, cuts to healthcare, food assistance and education, and increased bureaucracy on states such as Illinois.
Pritzker also described community responses across Illinois, pointing to residents supporting immigrant neighbors, including volunteers assisting families, parishioners protecting places of worship and residents demonstrating in public spaces.
He cited examples he said showed public reaction across the state, including bicyclists in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood buying food from street vendors so they could safely leave, parishioners forming human chains outside churches so immigrants could worship, and parents organizing outside schools during enforcement activity.
He concluded by urging residents to view the immigration debate beyond party politics, but rather about whether Illinois will be a state of empathy.
“Love is found in every act of courage – large and small – taken to preserve the country we once knew. You will find it in homes and schools and churches and art. It is there; it has not been squashed,” Pritzker said.
“What you choose to arm yourself with in this fight – love or hate – exposes which side you are fighting on. Only the weakest of people believe that love is the weakest of weapons. And it turns out that love actually is all around – and that those who think that cruelty can destroy it, are incapable of understanding the power of a nation moved by it.”
Lawmakers will continue budget negotiations in the spring legislative session.
Cover Photo: Governor JB Pritzker delivers his FY2027 state budget proposal at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill. on Wednesday, Feb. 18th, 2026./ Angeles Ponpa, Illinois Latino News