Politics
Illinois Members of Congress on New ICE Activity, Violence Prevention and Public Safety
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is starting Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. The agency said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation is targeting “criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago.”
The White House and DHS claim 11 undocumented men were released back into the city by local law enforcement despite having criminal records. In its announcement of the operation, DHS said one of these men killed an Illinois woman in a drunken hit-and-run.
This comes after weeks of President Donald Trump promising to send ICE agents and National Guard troops to Chicago.
Some immigrant rights groups said at least three people have been arrested by federal immigration officials as of Monday.
Immigrant advocates and Democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm on the new federal agent activity, saying that it isn’t the right way to address crime concerns. WTTW News reached out to Republican members of the Illinois congressional delegation, but they either declined to join “Chicago Tonight” or did not reply.
“He’s trying to stoke fear at every corner, every possibility,” U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez said of the president. “He goes on and he puts pictures of people to be able to justify his terror force that he’s forming. I mean, just think about it — he’s now talking about using USCIS, the department that’s supposed to be processing visas, to create a police force where they’re now going to be carrying guns to go after people. This is not about safety. It’s about freaking everyone out and putting people in such positions that they don’t come out and protest or demand community safety.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision cleared the way for ICE agents to conduct sweeping operations. The ruling said that while ethnicity is not a reason on its own for reasonable suspicion, it is a “relevant factor” when considered with other factors for ICE agents to stop someone they suspect may be undocumented.
U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García said the ruling will give ICE the greenlight to racially profile Latino communities.
“Over the weekend, we know of 13 people who were apprehended, either in Chicago, mostly on the Southwest Side, or in suburban communities,” García said. “They don’t fit the profiles of the press release that was put out today by DHS. There is an effort to paint everyone as a criminal. It is rooted in the false narrative that Donald Trump has been writing since he first declared for the presidency, and right now they’re picking on Latinos, they’re picking on the Mexican American community as we approach the celebration of the annual Independence Day celebrations. This is to intimidate and to control.”
Trump is sending more ICE agents and threatening the deployment of the National Guard against the wishes of local leaders. Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker are pushing back against Trump’s plans, saying there are other ways to combat crime. They have said more federal support is needed from the agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in taking illegal guns off the street.
“We understand if the president wants to be helpful, he should coordinate with the governor, with the mayor, and also have the respect of the local police that are enforcing the law so that we can do better,” said U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson. “We need the aid that was already promised to the city that he’s now retracted. He cut the funding to enhance our violence prevention.”
