Chicago suspends online city ID program after ICE subpoena of user data
newYou can listen to Fox’s news articles!
Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia has suspended the online application method for obtaining a CityKey ID after the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) sent a subpoena to her office for applicant information.
It will face as the Trump administration continues its efforts to deport an unprecedented wave of illegal immigrants who have been allowed to enter the country during the Biden administration Resistance from local officials. Leaders of particularly democratic cities like Chicago are some of the most outspoken cities about their efforts to ensure illegal immigrants are not deported.
Valencia announced Friday that her office will take the CityKey online portal offline. The Chicago Tribune reported. A city key is an ID issued by a local authority that is accessible to Chicago residents, regardless of their immigration status, gender identity, or criminal history. Her decision to suspend the online application portal comes after ICE summoned her office for information provided by non-citizens on their mission to pursue illegal immigration.
When the municipal ID program was first introduced in 2017, the Chicago Tribune said it was intended to protect personal information by skirting public records laws and processing them exclusively for applications.
“Fake claims”: Mayor of Blue City for trying to stop the reopening of ice facilities.
ICE was summoned to the Chicago Clerk’s Office for information about illegal immigration applicants to the Citykey Municipal ID program. (DavidDeeDelgado/Getty Images)
However, as the immigration crisis surged over the next few years, the city created an online portal to process applicants. A document that under the Public Records Act, the office is not permitted to destroy it.
Valencia paused that aspect of the program in response to supporters who were surprised by the online retention of ice-enabled documents.
“We’ve heard, “Let’s pause the online platform temporarily when we take the pulse and evaluate what’s going on,” Valencia told the Tribune. “We assess what’s going on every day and where the weather is. If we feel we’re somewhere else, we can easily bring back our online platforms, but we don’t go anywhere.”
In May 2024, the City Council approved a new amendment to the local government code, which added that “information provided by applicants provided to obtain a Chicago City ID using the online platform will be stored.”
“Listen, I was always honest, transparent and led with sincerity,” Valencia told the Tribune, referring to an online warning about record-keeping. “I know there is a lot of fear there, so I want to be very clear about fighting data to the federal government. There was no data given ice, duration, zero data due to the city key.”
For more information about media and culture, click here
Illegal immigration has been Trump’s flagship issue since President Trump first ran, facing harsh opposition from local Democratic leaders across the country to try to deport illegal immigrants. (Getty Images and Ice)
“I want to go back to the original issue. If this Trump administration weren’t dependent on civilian data, this wouldn’t even be a conversation,” Valencia said. “This allows them to overtake our democracy as Trump is witch hunting and intentionally trying to instill fear in people.”
The city says there’s no need to comply with Ice’s administrative subpoena, but if Ice comes back on court order, it could trigger a legal battle.
Click here to get the Fox News app
US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) knocks on the suspect’s door during an ice attack in Chicago, Illinois. (Photographer: Christopher Dilt/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Ice and Valencia did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.