Homan says Chicago ‘absolutely’ should expect immigration enforcement this week
Trump border czar Tom Homan said Chicago and other “sanctuary cities” should expect to see immigration enforcement action in the coming week.
“Absolutely,” Homan said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, when asked directly about enforcement action in Chicago this week.
“You can expect action in most sanctuary cities across the country,” he continued. “President Trump’s prioritized sanctuary cities because sanctuary cities knowingly release illegal alien public safety threats to the streets every day. That’s where the problem is.”
“We don’t have that problem in Florida, where every sheriff and chief works for us, right, or Texas, so we got to send additional resources to the problem areas, which are sanctuary cities,” he added.
Homan pushed back on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s (D) suggestion that state officials have not been notified by the White House about any upcoming enforcement action.
“Governor Pritzker has been notified from day one,” Homan said, when asked whether he will be coordinating with state and local officials about “an operation of this size in Chicago.”
“I went there and started an operation right after the inauguration,” he continued. “ICE agents have been flooding the zone in Chicago for a while now, so he’s aware of what’s going on. I mean, he knows we’ve been there. We were there last week. We were there the week before.”
Homan noted more resources will be coming in the near future and said, “National Guard are always on the table.”
“Now, you know, again, we’re going to send additional resources to all sanctuary cities. But this isn’t new to him. He knows we’ve been there. He’s failed to work with us. The mayor, Johnson, has failed to work with us,” he continued, referring to Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D).
President Trump has suggested in recent weeks that Chicago would be his next target for a large-scale immigration enforcement operation.
He has since ramped up the threat. On Saturday, the president posted an artificially generated image of his likeness as a law enforcement officer. The image’s background included a depiction of Chicago burning, with several helicopters and text that read, “Chipocalypse Now” — a nod to the 1979 film “Apocalypse Now.”
“I love the smell of deportations in the morning… Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” the president wrote, a nod to his recent executive order renaming the Department of Defense.
Pritzker fired back in a social media post, writing, “The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal.”
“Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man,” he added. “Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”