In a surprising shift, two Chicago Democrats have introduced new legislation aimed at rolling back the city’s sanctuary policies, signaling a growing willingness to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement under the incoming Trump Administration. The proposed changes would allow local authorities to assist in the deportation of illegal immigrants, particularly those with criminal records, reversing years of resistance to federal immigration laws. This move, though controversial within the city's progressive circles, reflects mounting pressure to address public safety concerns and curb the increasing number of violent crimes linked to illegal immigration in Chicago.
Aldermen Raymond Lopez and Silvana Tabares— both Democrats— argue enough is enough regarding the city’s handling of illegal immigration that has resulted in gang and drug-related crimes thanks to Chicago’s “welcoming city” ordinance, enacted in 2021 shortly after outgoing President Joe Biden took office. Lopez and Tabares are pushing to amend the city’s sanctuary city rules and allow local police and officials to collaborate with federal agents when illegal aliens are arrested or convicted of certain crimes. The proposed changes would include offenses such as gang-related activities, drug trafficking, prostitution, human trafficking, and sexual crimes involving minors. Illegal immigrants have been arriving in droves to the city since 2022 and were offered temporary housing and other services provided by tax-payer dollars.
In a public statement, the two Democrats said it is in the best interest of the city's immigrant community to cooperate with the incoming Trump Administration in cases where illegal aliens are involved in serious crimes.
We believe that the best way to protect law-abiding non-citizens from the returning Trump Administration is by working with them in apprehending their priority targets: non-citizens that CHOOSE to engage in dangerous, illegal activity once they are in the United States. Our current [Welcoming City Ordinance] prohibits any coordination or cooperation, even in the most heinous situations.
This policy is dangerous to those law-abiding undocumented and non-citizens residents because, if someone is arrested or convicted of crimes, the federal authorities aren’t notified. Should the federal government go looking for those specific individuals seeking to deport them, there is a high probability that other targets, law-abiding undocumented and non-citizen residents, may be apprehended and deported as collateral damage. That is an entirely unacceptable yet avoidable situation.
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming "border czar," Tom Homan, promised mass deportations to illegal immigrants in Chicago, threatening to prosecute liberal Mayor Brandon Johnson if he continued to "harbor and conceal" asylum seekers.
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