PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE
Gov. Pritzker signs bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Illinois. Last Friday, Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation allowing assisted suicide to become law. The legislation, SB 1950, faced significant objections from coroners, medical experts, religious communities, and disability-rights advocates. Throughout debate, concerns were raised about the bill’s lack of guardrails, the exclusion of key stakeholders, and the potential risks it creates for vulnerable families.
In response to the bill signing, State Representative Mike Coffey released the following statement:
“This is a bad bill for Illinois and it tells our most vulnerable that their lives are not worth living,” said Coffey. “Our doctors do a tremendous job taking care of people in need and healing their pain, but this bill supports the culture of death in Illinois.”
IMMIGRATION
Despite opposition from law enforcement, Pritzker approves expansion of Illinois’ failed sanctuary state policies. During the fall Veto Session, the Democrat supermajority acted against the federal government’s effort to crack down on illegal immigration in Illinois. Democrats passed, and this week Gov. Pritzker signed into law, House Bill 1312 which further expands Illinois’ failed sanctuary state policies.
Due to the Biden Administration’s disastrous open-border policy, there are now 550,000 illegal immigrants living in Illinois. At President Trump’s direction, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, recently conducted an immigration enforcement action know as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
Illinois Democrats responded to the DHS/ICE operation with the passage of HB 1312, which expands Illinois’ failed sanctuary state policies by creating Immigration Enforcement-Free Zones in and around courthouses, daycare facilities, hospitals, and college campuses. It allows illegal immigrants to sue police and immigration agents, including allowing immigrants to recover punitive damages from law enforcement and immigration officials.
“Our police officers already have their hands tied to enforce laws and this bill is only going to make their jobs even more difficult,” Coffey said. “It’s completely ridiculous to allow illegal immigrants to sue local and state law enforcement officers.”
The legislation will also place new requirements on hospitals, childcare facilities, and higher education institutions on how they work with law enforcement on their premises and restrictions on what information they can share with law enforcement, with potential penalties for those institutions that fail to comply.
Read more about the recently signed law here: Gov. JB Pritzker signs bill protecting immigrants from federal enforcement in Illinois.
Governor Pritzker’s Sanctuary Illinois Released More than 1,700 Criminal Illegal Aliens Including Murderers, Pedophiles, and Kidnappers
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons sent a letter to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul calling on him to put the safety of Americans first and honor ICE arrest detainers of the more than 4,000 criminal illegal aliens in the state’s custody including murderers, sexual predators, and those convicted of or charged with weapons offenses.
Illinois’ failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 1,768 criminal illegal aliens since January 20. The crimes of these aliens include 5 homicides, 141 assaults, 23 burglaries, 4 robberies, 24 dangerous drugs offenses, 15 weapons offenses, and 10 sexual predatory offenses.
There are currently 4,015 aliens in the custody of an Illinois jurisdiction with an active detainer. The crimes of these aliens include 51 homicides, 1,134 assaults, 107 burglaries, 36 robberies, 275 dangerous drugs offenses, 120 weapons offenses, and 813 sexual predatory offenses.
In September, ICE sent a letter to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul asking for cooperation in honoring ICE detainers on criminal illegal aliens. His office did not respond.
“Governor Pritzker and his fellow Illinois sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and kidnappers back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “We are calling on Governor Pritzker and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 4,000 criminal illegal aliens in Illinois’ custody. It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.”
JOBS
Illinois’ unemployment rate was 4.4% in September.The jobs report, issued by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), showed Illinois’ total number of nonfarm payroll jobs in slight decline in early fall 2025. With 6,162,600 Illinois jobs reported in September, the headcount of paychecks was down 2,200 from the previous month. Two of the chief job sectors of the Illinois economy, Health Services and Government Services, showed declines in September 2025; this dragged down overall Illinois numbers. Key private-sector jobs segments, headed by (a) Trade, Transportation and Utilities, (b) Information, and (c) Leisure and Hospitality, showed small increases during the same month.
For Illinois in September 2025, the unemployment rate was 4.4%. This matched the nationwide unemployment rate, also 4.4% for the same month. Illinois’ jobless rate dropped 0.6% from the 5.0% rate posted in September 2024, one year earlier than the reported month. In their release of these September 2025 numbers, IDES mentioned a delay in reporting them; these numbers usually come out in mid-to-late October. The Department stated that the 43-day-long U.S. federal government shutdown had affected the flow of data needed to produce this jobs-and-joblessness report.