Politics
Pritzker Forms Commission to Document ‘Abuses’ by Federal Agents During Immigration Raids
Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday he would form a commission to document what he called “countless acts of harassment and intimidation and brutality and abuse of power” during a series of increasingly aggressive immigration enforcement raids across Chicago and the suburbs.
“Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, and Greg Bovino have failed their oaths of office and allowed agents under their command to act unconscionably under the color of law,” Pritzker said. “They have given the impression that their actions are immune from investigation or accountability. They are not.”
Pritzker, who is running for a third term as Illinois governor and has refused to rule out a run for president in 2028, has opposed Trump at every opportunity and accused his fellow Democrats of not doing enough to block the president’s efforts.
“Donald Trump is counting on your silence,” Pritzker said. “We are counting on your courage.”
Pritzker signed an executive order forming the Illinois Accountability Commission and charged it with creating a “public record of abuses” committed by the president, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, border czar Tom Homan and Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino.
“We have a duty to ensure that the truth is preserved, so the public can know what they’re elected and appointed officials have done,” Pritzker said. “So the courts and the Congress can eventually hold people accountable. It is imperative that none of the impropriety, brutality and harassment perpetrated upon our people goes unnoticed. Every instance of abuse, of law breaking, or violent and violations of rights needs to be documented and archived.”
Read the full executive order.
While Pritzker said the immigration raids across Chicagoland and throughout Illinois have been “marked by excessive force, masked agents in unmarked vehicles, military-style raids, the use of chemical irritants, and reports of violent conduct by federal agents,” federal officials have defended the conduct of federal agents, saying they have acted appropriately in the face of intense opposition from residents.
Pritzker has repeatedly asked Illinois residents to record the conduct of immigration agents with cameras and smartphones and post those videos on social media. The commission’s website will allow residents to share those videos with state officials to create a record.
“While states have limited abilities against federal immunity, we must remind everyone that this is not forever,” Pritzker said. “There will come a time where people of good faith are empowered to uphold the law. When the time comes, Illinois will have the testimony and the records needed to pursue justice to its fullest extent.”
Pritzker said Trump administration officials had lied to the public “to cover up their misdeeds.”
“They have already, and will continue, to cover up abuses of power, cross the legal limits of their authority, and attempt to justify dangerous attacks that threaten our people and our communities,” Pritzker said. “We hope to reveal to the public, in Chicago, the state of Illinois, across the nation, and around the world, the facts on the ground about what is happening here. We intend to create a detailed record of the truth. And once this all ends, people of good faith will review what this commission has gathered and will demand accountability.”
The commission, which will be led by former U.S. District Court Judge Rubén Castillo, will also capture the impact of what the Trump administration calls “Operation Midway Blitz” on families and communities and recommend “actions to prevent further harm and to pursue justice,” Pritzker said.
Castillo held up the Oct. 15 front page of the Chicago Sun-Times, which included a picture of a federal agent pointing a military-style weapon directly at the head of a 17-year-old East Side resident during a confrontation with immigration agents. During that incident, federal agents deployed tear gas against the crowd of residents, police officers and members of the media three times, officials said.
“This cannot be the new normal in the United States of America or in Illinois,” Castillo said. “And that is what this commission will be investigating.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
