The Toxic Combination Of Illinois’ Sanctuary Status And The SAFE-T Act

By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner

It’s hard to believe he’s been walking freely for months. A woman overdosed in his home. He concealed her death and dumped her body in a bleach-filled trash can in his back yard – where it remained for more than two months. His alleged crimes were heinous.  Abuse of a corpse. Concealing a death and obstruction of justice. Class 4 felonies.

Yet after Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez was finally arrested, he couldn’t be held in jail. His alleged crimes didn’t qualify for pretrial detention under the SAFE-T Act, a law passed in 2021 that makes it more difficult to detain alleged criminals for certain crimes. The Act also made Illinois the first state in the country to ban cash bail altogether. 

Incredibly, authorities had yet another opportunity to put Mendoza-Gonzalez behind bars. He’s an illegal immigrant and could have been handed over to federal authorities. But Illinois’ sanctuary status meant, again, he was allowed to walk free while awaiting trial. 

It’s an infuriating example of how criminals in Illinois are prioritized over victims and their families. And how two laws – Illinois’ sanctuary status and the SAFE-T Act – can combine to wreak havoc on Illinoisans.

How many offenders in Illinois have been let out before trial due to an undetainable crime and then committed yet more offenses? It’s hard to know, but CWB Chicago in their “not horrible” series has at least compiled a list of individuals accused of killing, shooting, or trying to kill or shoot others while on pretrial release for a felony allegation (see CWB chart below).

All of them crimes that likely could have been prevented.

And how many illegal immigrants have had the opportunity to commit more crimes after being released? 

The good news is that Mendoza-Gonzalez has just been arrested and detained by federal immigration agents in Chicago, according to CWB Chicago. The bad news, of course, is that it took federal action to get Mendoza-Gonzalez off the street – something that only happened because of his illegal immigration status.

From CWB Chicago:

“We have lost all common sense when it comes to enforcing law and order,” Antioch Mayor Scott Gartner said after Mendoza-Gonzalez was released in April. “When the SAFE-T Act was being debated, there were voices sounding the alarm about what could happen if it were to become law.”

“There’s other extenuating circumstances in this case. Not only the type of crime, how long the crime was concealed, the fact that the person that was arrested for this is not a U.S. citizen and you know, can maybe flee from the country.” 

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s 2017 signing of Illinois’ sanctuary status opened the door to people like Mendoza-Gonzalez. And Gov. Pritzker’s signing of the SAFE-T Act allows alleged criminals like him to roam the streets freely while awaiting trial. Pritzker’s further creation of a Welcoming Illinois Office – and the spending of billions on illegal immigrants – has also helped create more chaos for everyday Illinoisans. 

It’s all become a toxic combination of laws that needs renewed debate and reform immediately.