A Democratic congressman ripped Chicago in reaction to a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit against the city for policies that make it harder for deportation officers to apprehend criminal illegal migrants.
Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democratic lawmaker representing a district along the U.S.-Mexico border, during a Thursday interview appeared supportive of a lawsuit against Chicago for its sanctuary policies restricting cooperation between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The congressman noted that there are no sanctuary policies in border towns because they want law and order.
“It’s common sense,” Cuellar said Thursday during a NewsNation interview. “Look, I don’t support sanctuary cities.”
“We don’t have any sanctuary cities along the border because we want to make sure that we have law and order, that if anybody wants to come into the United States, they do it the legal way like my parents did, and it’s important,” Cuellar continued. “So, no, I don’t support any sanctuary cities and I think I’ve even voted to cut funding for sanctuary city policies.”
The comments are in reaction to the DOJ filing a lawsuit Thursday against Chicago, Cook County and the state of Illinois for laws and policies in each locality that largely restrict how ICE agents can interact with local and state officials — making their mission of apprehending criminal illegal migrants all the more difficult. The Trump administration argues that the laws are unconstitutional as they impede the work of federal immigration officials.
“Who’s against arresting criminals?” Cuellar asked. “So, again, with all due respect to that area, and it should not be a Democratic or a Republican question, it should be, should we enforce the law and the law says that if we have criminals, criminal aliens, they should be picked up.”
The Trump administration — which is embarking on a large-scale apprehension and deportation operation — is dramatically ramping up its fight against sanctuary jurisdictions. Numerous Democrat-led cities have doubled down or reaffirmed their sanctuary city status, despite President Donald Trump winning election in November on a hawkish border enforcement platform.
In addition to the lawsuit against Chicago and other Illinois officials, the administration Wednesday moved to withhold DOJ-administered funds from sanctuary jurisdictions across the U.S.
Newly-minted Attorney General Bondi also ordered the DOJ to move forward with possible “enforcement actions” against sanctuary jurisdictions that obstruct justice or otherwise impede federal immigration operations.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is among four mayors subject to a congressional investigation over their cities’ sanctuary policies. Johnson has agreed to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on March 5 concerning the investigation.
Cuellar is far from the only Democrat opposed to the Windy City’s sanctuary policies. Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez, who attempted to roll back the city’s law, said Latinos in particular are opposed to policies that protect criminal migrants because they reflect poorly on their community.
“I think that is what helped fuel the anger within the Latino community, specifically the Mexican American voting block, because they saw that as a slap in the face to all of their trials and tribulations, especially those that know or have relatives or friends who are still struggling for a path and were completely forgotten by the Democratic Party in order to make way for the migrant asylum seekers,” Lopez previously said to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman, who once claimed that sanctuary cities are “safer,” has since appeared to shift away from such policies. The senator on Sunday said local Democrats should not be shielding criminal illegal migrants from apprehension, but instead helping ICE agents round them up.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, another Democrat subject to the House Oversight investigation, has repeatedly spoken out against his city’s sanctuary laws, but argues he’s limited in what he can change in the face of a liberal-dominated city council that stands adamantly in support of the policies.
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