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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
DECLARING COOK COUNTY’S EMPHATIC DEFENSE AND RECOGNITION OF ALL RESIDENTS' RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS
WHEREAS, Clause 39 of the Magna Carta, issued in 1215 declared, “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land”; and
WHEREAS, in the statutory rendition of the Magna Carta in 1354, the term ‘due process’ appeared for the first time with Clause 29 stating that, "No man of what state or condition he be, shall be put out of his lands or tenements nor taken, nor disinherited, nor put to death, without he be brought to answer by due process of law”; and
WHEREAS, the Magna Carta is the bedrock of the U.S. Constitution and established the foundational principles of the rule of law, due process, the protection of individual rights, and served as the model for safeguarding individual liberties and principles that became core tenets of the American legal system; and
WHEREAS, individuals' right to due process in the United States has been established since the ratification of the Constitution in 1791; and
WHEREAS, due process is a fundamental right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution that protects persons against arbitrary government decisions and ensures fairness in legal matters; and
WHEREAS, all residents in the U.S. have the right to due process, meaning a chance to defend their rights and to have a fair hearing; and
WHEREAS, the right to due process as found under the Fifth Amendment states that, “No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” by the federal government; and
WHEREAS, this right to due process was further extended to the States with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, under Section One, which states, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”; and
WHEREAS, when examining the text of these amendments, it is important to highlight the language applies not only to the narrower category of ‘citizens’ but to the broader category of ‘person[s]’; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has continuously upheld the applicability of the right to due process to all residents on United States' soil; and
WHEREAS, in the Court's unanimous ruling in Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U.S. 67 (1976) the late Justice John Paul Stevens - a President Gerald Ford appointee - wrote “There are literally millions of aliens within the jurisdiction of the United States. The Fifth Amendment, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment, protects every one of these persons from deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law,” and “Even one whose presence in this country is unlawful, involuntary, or transitory is entitled to that constitutional protection”; and
WHEREAS, in Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292 (1993), the Supreme Court stated, “It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings”; and
WHEREAS, on March 15, 2025, President Trump declared that the U.S. was under invasion by the Venezuelan gang 'Tren de Aragua' and invoked the centuries-old Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA); and
WHEREAS, part of the AEA gives the U.S. government authority during wars to arrest and expel non-citizens from enemy countries; and
WHEREAS, the AEA has only been used a total of three times in U.S. History; and
WHEREAS, the AEA was most infamously invoked during World War II as part of the internment of Japanese Americans; and
WHEREAS, in his August 10, 1988, ‘Remarks on Signing the Bill Providing Restitution for the Wartime Internment of Japanese American Civilians’, former President Ronald Reagan described the use of the AEA as a “grave wrong” and an action “taken without trial, without jury” that was “based solely on race”; and
WHEREAS, under President Trump’s current order, Venezuelans as young as 14 years of age could be expelled from the country without any hearing if they are merely accused of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang; and
WHEREAS, American authorities used the Trump administration’s order to send 238 Venezuelans from the U.S. to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (or the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, abbreviated, commonly known as CECOT) a maximum-security prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador; and
WHEREAS, these individuals were sent to CECOT without any chance to go before an immigration court or a federal judge; and
WHEREAS, it remains unclear how officials decided these men were part of the gang or if they had any evidence at all, since there weren’t any individual hearings or other legal processes; and
WHEREAS, seventy-five percent of the Venezuelans sent to CECOT reportedly have no criminal record and their numbers include a makeup artist seeking asylum in the U.S. because he was targeted for being gay, and a man who had been granted refugee protection in the U.S.; and
WHEREAS, on April 7, 2025, in their Per Curium reply to the Trump administration’s ‘Application to Vacate the Orders Issued by The United States District Court for The District of Columbia’, the Supreme Court held that before expelling anyone, including non-citizens, under the AEA the U.S. Government must let them defend themselves in court; and
WHEREAS, On April 7, 2025, the Court also unanimously reaffirmed that the fundamental right to due process extends to everyone in America, regardless of their legal status; and
WHEREAS, the Trump administration’s March 22, 2025, executive order ‘Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court’ claims that the immigration system is rife with “meritless claims” and “replete with examples of unscrupulous behavior by attorneys and law firms,” and directs the Attorney General to impose professional and legal sanctions against attorneys who are legally defending their clients; and
WHEREAS, the reduction or elimination of due process protections sets the stage for more mistakes in its deportation efforts; and
WHEREAS, such as a case has already occurred with immigration authorities acknowledging mistakenly deporting Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and father of a disabled U.S. citizen child, to CECOT despite the fact he was granted protected status by an immigration judge in October of 2019 prohibiting the federal government from sending him to El Salvador; and
WHEREAS, in response to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s ‘Application to Vacate Injunction Entered by the United States District Court for The District of Maryland’, the Supreme Court’s order on April 10, 2025, required the federal government to “facilitate and effectuate the return” of Mr. Abrego Garcia; and
WHEREAS, the Court went on to state that “the order properly requires the government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador”; and
WHEREAS, on April 29, 2025, in an interview with ABC News’ Terry Moran, President Trump confirmed that he “could” bring Mr. Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador but stated that he “won’t”; and
WHEREAS, as of May 14, 2025, Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return has neither been effectuated nor facilitated; and
WHEREAS, the United States government has three branches - legislative, executive, and judicial - to ensure no single entity gains excessive power; and
WHEREAS, this separation of powers, along with a system of checks and balances, is designed to prevent tyranny and protect individual liberties; and
WHEREAS, the historical precedent of the President of the United States failing to abide by this three-branch system in refusing to obey orders from the Supreme Court is one marred in blood, including President Andrew Jackson’s disregard for the Court’s ruling in Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832) that the Cherokee Nation was independent and entitled to its land, a disregard that lead to their forced relocation on the Trail of Tears that resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 Cherokee; and
WHEREAS, the refusal of the President of the United States to abide by Supreme Court orders undermines the very principle of judicial independence and demonstrates a complete disregard for the rule of law in this country; and
WHEREAS, in response to questions on these matters on due process, President Trump stated on May 5, 2025, that, “The courts have all of a sudden, out of nowhere, they’ve said maybe you’re going to have to have trials. We’re going to have five million trials?”; and
WHEREAS, also on May 5, 2025, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller incorrectly stated on X (formally known as Twitter) that “the right of ‘due process’ is to protect citizens from their government. Not to protect foreign trespassers from removal”; and
WHEREAS, on May 9, 2025, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also told reporters that, “The Constitution is clear and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus could be suspended in time of invasion...So that’s an option we’re actively looking at”; and
WHEREAS, a writ of habeas corpus is a legal procedure in federal courts to determine if a state's detention of a prisoner is valid and is used to bring a prisoner or other detainee before the court to determine if the person's imprisonment or detention is lawful; and
WHEREAS, individuals’ right to habeas corpus is found under Article One, Section 9 of the US Constitution which states that "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it”; and
WHEREAS, it is important to emphasize that Section 9’s language does not allow the suspension of habeas corpus solely because an “invasion” is declared by the executive branch, but rather the language states in Article I that it can be suspended only “in cases of rebellion or invasion [when] the public safety may require it”; and
WHEREAS, it should be further emphasized that Article One articulates that all powers under the Article, including Section 9, shall be “vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives” and not in the executive branch; and
WHEREAS, the right to a writ of habeas corpus has been further strengthened in the modern context with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008), where former Justice Anthony Kennedy’s - a President Reagan appointee - opinion for the majority held that the right extended to non-citizens held at Guantánamo; and
WHEREAS, in Harris v. Nelson, 394 U.S. 286 (1969) the Supreme Court described habeas corpus as “the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action,” and that, “The very nature of the writ demands that it be administered with the initiative and flexibility essential to ensure that miscarriages of justice within its reach are surfaced and corrected”; and
WHEREAS, the errors and incorrect statements made by the Trump administration and its officials on these issues of due process and habeas corpus can have life or death consequences, and are the clear inevitable result of prioritizing speed over individuals’ rights to a fair process; and
WHEREAS, such violations and overt disregards of the well-established right to due process for all upon United States soil puts into jeopardy the physical and legal safety of all who reside here; and
WHEREAS, the founders of the United States built the nation on the absolute rejection of an unlimited monarchy where one’s rights depended upon the opinion of a singular king; and
WHEREAS, without the fervent, continuous, and stalwart defense of the right to due process for all in the United States, then all within the country, citizens or non-citizens alike, face the potential of unjust deprivation of life, liberty, and property without any ability to offer evidence, explanation, or defense to the contrary; and
WHEREAS, it remains vital that we continue to uplift the centuries old legacy of fairness and equality that the United States was founded on; and
WHEREAS, now more than ever it is crucial that we in Cook County condemn any and all actors who seek to deny individuals’ well-established rights to due process under the Constitution;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners does hereby proclaim its undying support and protection of all of its residents’ rights to due process and habeas corpus in all legal avenues so prescribed; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this text be spread upon the official proceedings of this Honorable Body, and suitable copies be tendered to the President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Governor JB Pritzker, Illinois Senate Leader Don Harmon, and Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Welch.
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