Several federal agencies have launched immigration enforcement operations in Chicago this week following President Donald Trump’s promised crackdown on illegal immigration.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove visited Chicago on Jan. 26 to observe Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement operations. He was also present in the nation’s third-largest city to support actions by several federal agencies, including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), according to Department of Justice spokesman Chad Gilmartin.
“[ICE], along with federal partners, including the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP, and the U.S. Marshals Service, began conducting enhanced targeted operations today in Chicago to enforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities,” the agency stated.
Trump has long promised to ramp up deportations and arrests for illegal immigrants if reelected. Since the president took office last week, several activist groups have responded with “know your rights” information campaigns to educate people who may be affected by the policy changes. City officials have also published similar information throughout hundreds of public transit locations.
Chicago Public Schools officials issued statements on Jan. 24 after mistakenly believing that ICE agents had visited a city elementary school. The agents were, in fact, Secret Service members.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat and Trump critic, questioned the president’s immigration policies during an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Jan. 26.
“We need to get rid of the violent criminals,” Pritzker said. “But we also need to protect people, at least the residents of Illinois and all across the nation, who are just doing what we hope that immigrants will do.”
Several groups brought lawsuits against ICE on Jan. 25, asking for an injunction to block certain immigration raids in Chicago.
“Immigrant communities who have called Chicago their home for decades are scared,” said Antonio Gutierrez from Organized Communities Against Deportation, one of the plaintiffs. “We refuse to live in fear and will fight any attempts to roll back the work we’ve done to keep families together.”
Trump has criticized Chicago for deploying some of the nation’s broadest sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants, barring cooperation between city authorities and federal immigration agents.
