The mix of crime and being overwhelmed by illegal immigrant arrivals is finally bringing some Democrats back to sanity in Chicago, whether they realize that their policies have failed or not.
Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez has introduced a proposal to address concerns about crime in and around shelters that are housing the illegal immigrants sent to the city by border states. “I think if we have the looming threat of deportation for anyone who engages in gang, drug, prostitution, or anything else more egregious — you know, hopefully, that will deter some of the bad behavior that we're seeing.”
Yes, Lopez is proposing that Chicago be able to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement if illegal immigrants are arrested for committing some types of crime, and 19 other aldermen are already on board. Of the city’s 50-person city council, all but three are Democrats, and now 20 of them are on board with deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes. It is a return to normalcy that would mean at least a partial end of Chicago’s sanctuary city commitment, given that refusing to cooperate with ICE even on criminal matters was one of the core promises sanctuary cities made.
This is not a novel concept Chicago is exploring. It is a normal thing that most people expected cities to do before the Democrats running those cities decided to use immigration as a chance to pretend they are morally superior to everyone else. But those cities are now struggling when being forced to uphold their sanctuary promises, and that includes Chicago, which has received just 12,000 illegal immigrants in the past year. For reference, that is less than what Arizona sees in one week.
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Chicago is also struggling with crime, which has become synonymous with the Windy City. Despite that, Chicago elected Brandon Johnson as mayor, a man who openly refuses to condemn criminals and instead condemns people who are too mean when talking about criminals. Johnson’s latest action to address crime in the city was to sue car manufacturers because their cars kept getting stolen.
Both of these failures combined have Chicago looking to reestablish some normalcy. It is a welcome development, but it is embarrassing that it has taken this long to see why it is smart for cities to do things that everyone else recognizes as being common sense. Deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes is a no-brainer when dealing with an immigration crisis and a crime crisis. Luckily, that means even Chicago’s leaders can figure it out eventually.