Calls for Illinois to secede from the United States are reigniting longstanding debates about political and cultural divisions in the state. The push, fueled by dissatisfaction with federal and state governance, has drawn both fervent criticism and advocacy from the local community.
Carbondale City Council member Clare Killman has become a prominent advocate for the effort, warning of potential threats to the state’s autonomy under the new federal administration under President Donald Trump’s second term.
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“I can’t sit idly by while Illinois, a state I love most dearly, and our people will be subjected to becoming targets of a reorganized federal bureaucracy of sycophants and informants,” Killman said in a video posted to Facebook on Dec. 15.
She said she was proposing it as a necessary action to protect the state’s core values and independence from what she sees as an increasingly tyrannical federal government.
Killman did not respond to inquiries for comment regarding her proposal.
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“Our continued participation in the United States will at best, make us passively complicit,” Killman said in the video. “At worst, it would be morally corrosive by forcing our active compliance in the spirit of what it means to be an Illinoisan.”
Killman expressed that Illinois must take action before it becomes complicit in federal policies damaging to the state’s identity.
“It is with the utmost sincerity, thought and care that I advocate that Illinois secede from the United States of America,” she said. “To wait for the worst to come is to rob ourselves of a life worth living. To act preemptively is the only morally acceptable option to save our state and our souls.”
Killman said that her goal is not to use force in dissolving the union but to pursue a peaceful secession by consent.
The City Council member also voiced concerns about the potential for authoritarianism under Trump.
“Democracy is vulnerable to tyrants, populist demagogues who are intent on installing themselves to autocratic rule. Donald Trump is nothing but a vengeful, petty tyrant,” Killman said. “We must work so that his reign of terror does not touch our borders. We must work to continue to be a beacon in dark times. We must work to chart our own course forward.”
John Jackson, a political science professor at SIU, has dismissed the feasibility of such a movement.
“It’s just simply impossible, not going to happen, both legally and politically,” Jackson said. “States can’t secede from the Union — we have civil war over that.”
Jackson also pointed out the difficulty of any secessionist movement within the state itself.
“States can’t be chopped up and divided, and parts of states can’t secede from other parts of their own state. Article 3, Section 4 spells that out,” he explained, referring to the U.S. Constitution.
The idea of secession, though, isn’t limited to Killman’s proposal for Illinois to succeed from the United States. There is also a growing movement within southern Illinois on the more conservative side of the continuum to secede from the rest of the state.
Jackson said at least 33 counties in southern, central and eastern Illinois have passed resolutions supporting the idea of creating a new state, separate from the heavily urbanized areas of northern Illinois.
Jackson attributed much of this discussion to the urban-rural divide and growing frustration with policies shaped by Chicago and northeast Illinois.
“In the case of the advocates for secession from the state of Illinois, people who are unhappy with being lumped in with Chicago and northeast Illinois…if they have cultural problems with the urban areas they’re trying to work out their frustration by doing this particular movement,” Jackson said.
Similarly to Killman’s calls for secession from the United States, Jackson believes this movement stems from frustration over Illinois’ cultural and political divides.
Jackson said, “Rural-urban division has always been there, but I think it’s gotten deeper as a result of the cultural wars and President Trump has mined that very, very successfully and continues to help turn the two against one another in polarizing fashion.”
Despite the lack of feasibility, the movement for southern Illinois to secede from the state continues to gain traction.
“It’s been a long-standing issue, and now it’s getting more media attention because of the frustration with state policies,” Jackson said. “But it’s still a movement that faces significant legal and political hurdles.”
Jackson said he believes this particular secession movement will likely lose momentum now that Trump is in power. He said he thinks those advocating for secession may feel more content with the current national government and are unlikely to push the issue further.
For those like Killman, who strongly oppose Trump’s influence, her proposal remains relevant.
“In that movement sense, it’s been around a long time and getting worse,” Jackson said. “In terms of the particular case of the City Council woman and this proposal, it’s completely unprecedented, as far as I know.”
As the movement continues to attract attention, it highlights deepening political and cultural divisions — divisions that are not easily bridged.
Jackson said, “One can see why she may be feeling stressed and beleaguered by the rhetoric and the hostility coming from President Trump and his administration, and I note that he’s made trans people particular targets in the culture wars for a long time.”
Killman broke new ground last year when she was elected to the Carbondale City Council, becoming the first openly transgender person in both the city and the state of Illinois to hold that position. With Trump now in office, Killman has been vocal in her criticism of the administration’s policies, particularly those that have already undermined the rights and visibility of transgender individuals.
“Just since Monday, when he was sworn in, he’s issued an edict that there are officially only two genders, male and female, and he’s also issued a decree that no trans women can participate in women’s sports,” Jackson said.
The growing political climate, in her view, only intensifies her sense of urgency in calling for action to protect Illinois’ autonomy, Killman said in her video. Her proposal for Illinois to secede is a way to take a stand against what she calls a federal overreach, a call to action to safeguard the state’s values and independence.
“It’s symbolic politics,” Jackson said. “It draws attention and media coverage, but it’s not going to happen. Politically, it’s unrealistic.”
Staff reporter Annalise Schmidt can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.
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