Free Republic

Attorneys general representing 23 states have joined forces in opposition to Chicago and Illinois “sanctuary” laws that prohibit local law enforcement officers from helping with the enforcement of federal immigration statutes. In an amicus brief filed in support of the federal government’s lawsuit against the city and state, the group argues that Illinois and Chicago are causing harm to their states by obstructing the enforcement of immigration law. “The national immigration crisis has rendered ‘every state … a border state,’” Ohio Solicitor General T. Elliot Gaiser wrote in a letter signed by 22 colleagues, including attorneys general from Indiana, Missouri,...

Move highlights how legal threats from the Trump administration are discouraging DEI.. Illinois has suspended a minority-only scholarship after the Department of Justice threatened to sue the state, the department said Friday. The department’s move, which came in the wake of a Washington Free Beacon report on the program, is the latest example of how the Trump administration’s legal saber-rattling has deterred the use of racial preferences. The program, which gave minorities financial aid to complete a master's or doctoral degree, was run by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and included some of the top universities in the state,...

By taking himself out of the running for a third term as governor next year, Pritzker could position himself as a leader with big ideas rather than an official forced to explain why Illinois keeps losing taxpayers and businesses. "He’s a bold presence in a party that often seems hesitant to wield power as aggressively as the GOP. But his record in Illinois is also a liability. If he runs again, he’ll be forced to defend an ugly reality: Illinois remains a state with some of the highest taxes in the country, a poor business climate, anemic job creation and...

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Chicago Teachers Union members have overwhelmingly voted to ratify their new contract agreement with Chicago Public Schools, making official a deal that notches improvements for educators and students but leaves political turmoil in its wake. After almost a year of negotiations, 97% of members who voted late last week approved the contract, according to the union. About 85% of the CTU’s 27,000 eligible voting members participated. Voting took place by paper ballot in schools and voting locations across the city on Thursday and Friday, and counting wrapped up over the weekend. The Board of Education will likely vote to approve...

The two females reportedly ate most of their food prior to insisting on their money back. Video captured two females physically attacking a waitress in a Chicago restaurant last weekend. The females are seen kicking, stomping, and punching the waitress — and the attack reportedly came after the waitress rejected the culprits' refund demand. Martha Garcia — owner of El Taco Azteca — told WBBM-TV two females wanted a full refund after they picked up a to-go order, departed, and then returned about 15 minutes later after having consumed nearly all their food and saying they didn't like it. 'I...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A bill that would ban “black market” restaurant reservations in Illinois has passed out of the House. HB2456, or the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act, would prevent third party services from listing, advertising, promoting, or selling restaurant reservations without a written agreement. “At a time when local restaurants are operating with extremely tight margins and working to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, they shouldn’t have to deal with third-party services snatching up their reservations and selling them at a premium, which leads to no-shows and confusion that only hurts their bottom lines,” said State Representative Margaret...

On Thursday, the federal Department of Education sent a letter to local school systems nationwide telling them that they must certify their compliance with Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights statute, which bars discrimination based on race, sex, and gender. “The use of certain DEI practices can violate federal law … The continued use of illegal DEI practices may subject the individual or entity using such practices to serious consequences,” including the loss of federal funds and litigation, the notice to schools said. The state of New York, for one, plans to defy the certification order. ... There's more...

... The scene was similar to dozens of other gun buyback events held at the Catholic parish, where more than 5,100 guns have been exchanged for gift cards over the past 19 years, more than any other location in the city. That day was marked by excitement, confusion and ultimately chaos after one cop inventorying the weapons at a police station noticed something unusual. A Glock handgun that cops had been admiring was missing. A tag identifying the gun had been slipped onto another one, and an envelope for that gun was soon found in the trash. In an office...

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (Gray News) - A special education teacher is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy at school during a tutoring session. According to the Downers Grove Police Department, Christina Formella, 30, sexually assaulted the boy in a classroom at Downers Grove South High School during a tutoring session before school in December 2023. Formella worked there as a special education teacher and soccer coach. The boy’s mother discovered the alleged sexual assault when she looked through a text message thread on her son’s phone and reported it to police on March 15. Formella was taken into custody...

The Hamtramck clerk alleged pervasive ballot trafficking in the city’s elections. Meanwhile, Michigan’s AG met with a fraud suspect. Voter fraud has been taking place in the Detroit-area suburb of Hamtramck “for years,” potentially affecting “hundreds of ballots,” the city clerk told The Federalist. She wrote Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel weeks ago imploring action, but heard “nothing” in response. “That’s the only thing I can do, since there’s nobody else that helps me put a stop to them breaking the law,” Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj told The Federalist. “It’s been ongoing for years, and nobody does anything about...

Illinois 9th District has only been represented by two people since 1965, and there hasn’t been a competitive primary since the race Democratic Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, the district’s current representative, won in November 1998. “I wouldn’t be born for another four months,” deadpans Kat Abughazaleh, the TikTok-famous political commentator now running to represent the district. Abughazaleh is transparent about the fact that she is not what anyone thinks of as shoo-in for Congress: a 26-year-old narcoleptic freelance social media creator who doesn’t live in the district and has only lived in the state for less than a year, challenging a...

Imagine being a child and riding your bicycle to school, only to be struck in a crosswalk by a car, and the driver leaves the scene. Imagine being the parent of that child. Yes. It happened. Jackie Traynere, Will County Board Member and DuPage Township Administrator, was involved in an accident the morning of March 11, 2025. After leaving the accident scene, Traynere arrived at the Bolingbrook Police Station where according to the police reports, she said she was stopped at a red light while a child was crossing the crosswalk on his way to school. Traynere said she started...

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. JB Pritzker, in a text exchange with Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, expressed concerns about Mayor Brandon Johnson’s ability to keep United Airlines’ headquarters in Chicago, another stark shot from the governor amid his ongoing friction with the mayor. The back-and-forth between the two statewide public officials occurred last month as rumors were reignited that the prominent airline company might move to Denver because of a recent property purchase near that city’s airport. Pritzker stressed the importance of ensuring Johnson did not do anything to “push them out” in the text conversation, which the Tribune obtained through a...

California began a soft secession when it banned cooperation with immigration authorities. Since then other states run by Democrats, including Colorado, Illinois and New Jersey, have declared war on ICE. The movement to make it impossible for ICE, an arm of the federal government, to operate in Democrat states has largely been successful. Some Republican states, like Tennessee, Texas and Florida, have responded by ordering law enforcement to cooperate with ICE. And while this is important in limiting the spread of illegal aliens in their states, it may also be time for them to consider their own forms of soft...

In a startling revelation, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has been implicated in a colossal USAID fraud scheme that has garnered significant attention and raised serious concerns among taxpayers. According to a tweet by Mila Joy, which has gone viral, Pritzker’s family controls 64 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are allegedly siphoning millions of taxpayer dollars. This situation has ignited discussions surrounding political corruption, accountability, and the role of NGOs in government fundin

A Chicago police officer has yet to face any disciplinary action from his police force after pleading guilty to vandalizing an elderly man’s car, according to the victim’s family, who believe the car was targeted because it belongs to a Jew. Mohammed Khan, 35, [http://publicsearch1.chicagopolice.org/Arrests/Details/18284442] was arrested last March after he broke the side mirrors off of the vehicle of 77-year-old Rabbi Abraham Wineberg who was visiting his granddaughter and great grandchildren in Chicago’s West Rogers Park Neighborhood. Khan was seen in surveillance footage from around 2:30 a.m. on March 3, 2024, where he first issued a parking ticket to...

As thousands of life-advocates gathered at the Illinois State Capitol on March 25, in Springfield, members of the legislature were there to welcome them. Representative Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) and former State Representative Jeanne Ives were among those who spoke passionately to the burgeoning crowd at the Illinois Pro-Life March, criticizing Illinois’ extreme abortion policies and the governor’s disconnect with reason. Ives, encouraging the crowd, pointed out that, “To be actively pro-life in Illinois is more significant than in our neighboring states, because.” She criticized Illinois’ incentives designed to draw abortionists into the state and the expanding mandates forcing taxpayers to...

(The Center Square) – For the 13th consecutive year, the city of Chicago once again reigned as the nation’s homicide capital in 2024 with 573 murders. Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski views that as a sickness he argues has been allowed to fester for too long. Even as overall murder rates across the country dipped, Chicago also claimed the top spot for highest murder rate per capita among big cities at 21.5 per 100,000 population, or three times the levels of Los Angeles and nearly five times of New York City. “It means we have a real problem and we're sick,”...

Nearly 33,000 Illinoisans without legal status — including 22,000 in Cook County — could be left without health care if lawmakers approve Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget proposal to eliminate a costly program that has covered thousands of people since COVID-19 hit. Once held up by Democrats statewide as a beacon of progressive governance protecting some of Illinois’ most vulnerable residents, the Health Benefits for Immigrant Adults program has been put on the chopping block by the governor due to ballooning costs in the face of a massive overall budget shortfall. Now, advocates are pushing to salvage funding for a program...