Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday vowed to fight the incoming Trump administration’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration and sanctuary cities, even as the city struggles with its own presence of migrant gang crime.
When asked if he was prepared to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s preparations to deploy “a squad” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to sanctuary cities like Chicago and attempts to withhold federal funds from sanctuary governments, Johnson reaffirmed his commitment to local laws that prevent cooperation with immigration enforcement authorities. The comments came despite recent reports indicating organized migrant crime has been hitting the Windy City, particularly from Tren de Aragua, an international crime syndicate originating from Venezuela.
“We’re going to defend the people of this city because, look, his attack — let’s be very clear — the president-elect, former President Trump, his threat is not just toward new arrivals and undocumented families,” Johnson said. “His threats are also against black families.”
“We’re going to stand up and protect undocumented individuals,” the mayor went on, and continued to make a connection between immigration enforcement and racial animus.
The mayor’s comments were in reaction to former ICE director Tom Homan, who has been tapped by the president-elect to serve as “border czar” for the upcoming administration. In his announcement of the appointment, Trump said Homan would be in charge of all deportations of illegal migrants.
“If you are not going to help us, get the hell out of the way because we’re gonna do it,” Homan said on Monday in his first interview since his appointment, speaking on expected pushback from anti-ICE politicians. “So, if we can’t get assistance in New York City, we may have to double the number of agents we send in New York City.”
“We are going to do the job,” Homan continued. “Sanctuary cities are sanctuaries for criminals.”
Law enforcement authorities confirmed in September that Tren de Aragua members have been arrested in Cook County — where Chicago is located — on weapons and narcotics charges, and internal emails obtained from the Cook County Sheriff’s office confirmed that members of the Venezuelan gang are in the city, according to NBC Chicago. The arrival of Tren de Aragua — which has coincided with Chicago’s own migrant crisis — has been linked to a rise in crime and has led to concerns of an impending turf war between their members and local gangs in the city, according to Fox 32.
The Chicago Police Department has arrested at least 30 suspected Tren de Aragua members between January 2023 and September of this year, documents obtained by the New York Post indicate.
Chicago officials have welcomed in at least 43,000 migrants since August 2022 and have so far spent around $150 million to house and feed them, amid the border crisis that began under the Biden-Harris administration. Many of the foreign nationals are from Venezuela and have largely been bussed into the city by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he has sought to relieve his own state.
A growing number of Democratic politicians, such as the mayor of Los Angeles and a slate of governors across the country, have also declared their opposition to Trump’s hardline immigration agenda.
Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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