The lawsuit asks the court to immediately end a number of laws and ordinances it says thwart federal immigration authorities.

The U.S. Justice Department sued the state of Illinois and city of Chicago on Thursday, accusing the Democratic strongholds of unlawfully interfering with Republican President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration and seeking a court order blocking so-called sanctuary laws.

The federal lawsuit is the first by Trump's Justice Department against states or municipalities that have sanctuary city policies.

President Donald Trump’s administration went to court Thursday to challenge sanctuary policies in the state of Illinois, Cook County and the city of Chicago that limit the powers of state and local police to assist federal law enforcement on immigration-related matters.

The Trump administration stepped up its legal fight over the president’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants by suing Illinois and Chicago, claiming their “sanctuary” policies prevent local officials from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.