Donald Trump's designated Border Czar was in Chicago at a GOP Christmas party on Tuesday, and he made it clear to anyone listening that he and his boss were dead serious about deporting the masses of illegal aliens in Chicago and that the effort would begin in the Windy City.
“Chicago’s in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks,” Homan said to cheers. Later, he called both Democratic leaders “terrible,” while also asking them to “come to the table" to negotiate.
Homan warned that he would prosecute Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson if he impeded the deportation efforts.
“Because of his actions, we’re going to be arresting a hell of a lot more people than our priorities,” said Homan, telling Johnson and other Democratic officials to “get the hell out of the way.”
If the deportation job is left solely up to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), it will be an uphill climb. That's why it's vital that if a deportation plan is to work, the Feds must have the support of local law enforcement.
In Chicago, that's a stretch.
Chicago and the state of Illinois are two of the most unfriendly places for ICE agents to operate. "ICE agents aren’t granted access to undocumented detainees inside Cook County Jail and Cook County officials are not required to notify federal authorities when undocumented detainees are in local custody," according to the Chicago publication Block Club. The state also forbids the renting of jail beds to ICE agents.
At Homan's speech on Tuesday night, the Chicago police department was well-represented. Case law makes it impossible for ICE or any other federal official to order the city to cooperate. Chicago doesn't even have to notify ICE if it has an illegal alien in custody. Resistance from zealots like Johnson will make mass deportations in Chicago extremely difficult.
Johnson has drawn a line in the sand. At a press conference last month, he said, “We will not bend or break. Our values will remain strong and firm. We will face likely hurdles in our work over the next four years, but we will not be stopped and we will not go back.”
As for Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the future Democratic presidential contender, he appears ready to challenge Trump's every move.
Pritzker is in discussions with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to explore what further legal resources or staff they’ll need to challenge Trump policies, including the potential for Trump to try to withhold federal grants for police in blue states in order to enact his mass deportation plan.
Pritzker has called any such action “illegal” and said the state would take legal action.
Just days after the election, the governor sounded a defiant tone.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Pritzker said. “You come for my people. You come through me.”
In recent speeches, Trump has sought to dial back expectations about the deportation plan. There are legal limits to who can be deported. Those who have filed asylum requests cannot be deported until their cases are decided in immigration court. Millions of asylum cases need to be adjudicated, and with a five-year backlog, even adding extra judges won't speed up the process appreciably.
Starting with deporting the criminal illegals promptly would make a good start and can be accomplished with little opposition.
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