Irresponsible leftists inside and outside the press corps have been working overtime lately to advance the idea that violent law-breaking is justified when a duly elected president implements lawful immigration policies which they oppose. It is not. A related and equally outrageous sentiment -- broadcast loudly on the Grammys last weekend -- holds that enforcement of U.S. immigration law is per se illegitimate. The great news of the day is that even a sharp critic of White House immigration policy is willing to break from her political comrades and suggest local officials should be doing more to assist federal law enforcement in keeping violent criminals off American streets.
In the 2025 photograph at the top of this page, Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton appears at an immigration processing center. She was there to protest ICE activities in the Chicago area. Her differences with Donald Trump are too numerous to count. But thank goodness despite these differences she is unwilling to abandon all common sense for the sake of "resistance."
"Illinois should consider pragmatic tweaks to its sanctuary law," is the encouraging headline on an editorial today in the Chicago Tribune, which reports:
Ms. Stratton is a Democrat running in a competitive primary for a U.S. Senate seat in a reliably Democratic state, so her stance shows some political courage. Is Gov. J.B. Pritzker also willing to publicly endorse sane law enforcement?
As we get a little optimistic that common sense might prevail on this issue, it should be emphasized that Ms. Stratton is no centrist. She backs Bernie Sanders-style control of healthcare and a host of proposals to make government bigger.
It seems that Ms. Stratton even supports abolishing ICE, though still recognizes the need to enforce immigration laws.
It's about time, and kudos to Lt. Gov. Stratton and the Tribune for standing up for common sense.