(WTVO) — Illinois State Senator Darren Bailey took the opportunity at Tuesday night’s governors debate to reveal his new plan for repealing the state’s sanctuary status for immigrants.

Bailey linked the state’s status as a sanctuary state as a top reason for gang violence in Chicago. The Immigration Project is a non-partisan immigrant advocacy group, and they took issue with Bailey linking crime to the sanctuary state’s policy.

“We simply need to get rid of this sanctuary state status, so law enforcement can do their job and start reigning this gang activity,” Bailey said.

“On the facts of what he’s alleging, it’s just blatantly false. There is no link between increased immigration and crime. And in fact, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native populations,” the Immigration Project countered.

The policy was initially signed by Governor Bruce Rauner in 2017. It prevents local law enforcement from working with federal immigration officials and in turn is designed to build trust in communities.

The policy was strengthened even further by Pritzker.