Gov. JB Pritzker and other Illinois leaders on Tuesday marked the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term by vowing to keep pushing back on the administration’s actions, while acknowledging that months of uncertainty, funding cuts and legal fights had taken a toll. From widespread fre ezes on federal grants in January to an unprecedented 64-day surge of deportation raids in and around Chicago in the autumn, the first 365 days of the second Republican Trump administration have had a seismic impact on Illinois, Pritzker and fellow Democrat Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at separate events. “When you’re governor, you want very much to try to address all these problems. And the resources that we know are available, and that have historically been available to the states — that now the federal government has taken away. And we can’t fix all of these things,” Pritzker said, following a roundtable-style discussion in Uptown with several Illinoisans who said they had been adversely affected by recent federal actions. In terms of cuts, services from Head Start preschool to AmeriCorps to mental health support have faced significant trimming, though in some cases the Trump administration reversed its decisions to stop funding or was forced by a court to change course. In the coming year, Illinois will likely need to deal with cuts to food assistance and Medicaid as a result of Trump’s tax and spend bill signed into law this summer.  As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have had less of a presence in Chicago in recent weeks than in the fall, Pritzker on Tuesday said Illinois “wrote the playbook” for pushing back on agents’ tactics as they move into Minnesota and other parts of the country.  “I’ve had many conversations — several conversations, I should say, with the governor of Minnesota (Tim Walz) to offer any help that we’ve got,” Pritzker said. The Trump administration has said its immigration enforcement targets the “worst of the worst” individuals who have both committed violent crimes and are in the country without legal status. In Minneapolis, as in Chicago, however, many people without violent criminal records have also been swept up. Speakers at Pritzker’s roundtable listed ICE activity, funding cuts, the government shutdown last fall and potentially rising health care costs at the top of their concerns. They also said they felt targeted by the Trump administration’s actions on multiple fronts, including a working mother who advocates for food security and a doctor dealing with medical issues of his own.  Student Jacky Salgado, center, speaks during a roundtable event with Gov. JB Pritzker and others in Uptown, Jan. 20, 2026. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) Master’s student Jacky Salgado said she had to deal with both uncertainty about funding for her position as a research assistant at the University of Illinois Chicago and the added stress of supporting loved ones as they feared immigration enforcement.  “It was just a lot, and I wasn’t the only one,” she said. “I finished the semester out, but it was definitely hard academically, mentally, even physically, having to get up even earlier.”  At a separate event, Raoul, whose office has been fighting the Trump administration in court over many of the policies Trump has sought to enact, said the federal administration’s actions strained his staff of attorneys. Since Trump took office Jan. 20, 2025, Raoul said, his office has filed more than 50 lawsuits — often partnering with other states’ attorneys general. And it has weighed in on other cases with over 100 legal opinions, including against tactics immigration enforcement agents have used during missions, the Trump administration’s attempt to deploy Illinois National Guard troops against Pritzker’s wishes, its attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship and dismantle certain federal government operations. “He has said on national TV that he does not know whether or not he has to follow the Constitution,” Raoul said of Trump during a downtown Chicago news conference, flanked by a number of lawyers from his office. “Over the past year, he has repeatedly demonstrated a disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law at large. His unlawful actions this past year have been intended to demoralize, confuse and exhaust.” In a tight budget climate in Illinois, especially amid uncertainty about how much federal money the Trump administration will deprive the state, Raoul has pushed for his office to receive more state funding as it files more lawsuits and challenges Trump’s measures. “Today, I’m joined by the hardworking attorneys of my office to say we are not demoralized and we’re certainly not exhausted,” Raoul also said. “We’re standing our ground to defend the rights of the people of Illinois and the rule of law, and we’re winning.” Raoul said he’s hopeful the U.S. Supreme Court, despite its 6-3 conservative majority, will issue more favorable rulings for his office as it did in late December when the high court refused to allow Trump to deploy Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago-area streets. But Raoul has also noted that his office’s efforts prompted the Trump administration to back off or second-guess its moves. “The strain has been a real one. It has required more than what we would call reasonable hours for these people behind me,” Raoul said.  Gov. JB Pritzker participates in a roundtable discussion in Uptown, Jan. 20, 2026, with Illinoisans who said they had been adversely affected by recent federal actions. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune) Pritzker’s opposition to Trump has elevated his national political stature, even more than in 2024, when he was vetted as a potential running mate for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.  Another Democratic governor considered to be Harris’ vice presidential nominee was Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has reportedly written in a new book that he was asked by the Harris team about his ties to Israel to a point that he found offensive. Both Shapiro and Pritzker are Jewish. Answering reporters’ questions after his roundtable Tuesday, Pritzker said he didn’t find the Harris campaign’s questions to be inappropriate when he was vetted. “The questions are tough. I think you’ve got to be tough during the process. I recognize why the questions are tough,” Pritzker said. “I mean, what’s appropriate and inappropriate in the context of getting, as one pundit calls it, an MRI for your soul, when you’re out there in the national political arena?” Pritzker said.  ...read more read less