Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is raising alarm over what he describes as aggressive and indiscriminate immigration enforcement by the Trump administration in Chicago, claiming that U.S. citizens — including children and the elderly — are being harassed in federal operations.
Tensions flared over the weekend following a violent incident in which a woman was shot after allegedly attempting to ram U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with her vehicle.
“They are the ones making it a war zone,” Mr. Pritzker, a possible 2028 Democratic presidential contender, said of the Trump administration’s crackdown on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They need to get out of Chicago if they are not going to focus on the worst of the worst, as the president said they will do.”
The governor accused immigration officials of racial profiling, stating that agents are “just picking up people who are Brown or Black and then checking their credentials: Are you a U.S. citizen?”
“I don’t know about you, but I don’t carry around papers that say I am a U.S. citizen, so people are getting detained, they are getting arrested, U.S. citizens,” he said.
The Trump administration announced it is sending 300 National Guard troops to Illinois as part of its efforts targeting illegal immigrants.
The move angered the president’s critics, who celebrated a federal judge’s decision to temporarily block the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, to protect ICE facilities.
Mr. Pritzker’s criticism intensified last week after Border Patrol agents conducted a late-night raid on a Chicago apartment building. According to news reports, several U.S. citizens were temporarily detained, and children were forcibly removed from their beds.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday defended the raids, saying they were making Chicago “freer” and “safer.”
“People on the streets are clapping as we do our work. They are clapping as the officers are arresting these bad criminals,” Ms. Noem said during an appearance on Fox News. “His city is a war zone.”
Mr. Pritzker rejected her characterization, saying Ms. Noem “doesn’t know what she is talking about.”
“She says people are clapping, they are not, they are booing her on the street and they are booing ICE and [Customs and Border Protection],” he said.
Violence escalated Saturday, when the Department of Homeland Security reported that Border Patrol agents fired “defensive shots” after their vehicle was allegedly boxed in and rammed by civilian cars.
The woman who was shot was identified as Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen reportedly flagged by CBP after posting a provocative message online urging resistance to ICE operations.
Mr. Pritzker said he is waiting for the dust to settle before he accepts the administration’s version of events.
“We don’t have the facts,” Mr. Pritzker said, before highlighting how ICE recently shot and killed a Mexican immigrant in Franklin Park, Illinois.
“They won’t let us access the facts,” he said. “They are just putting out their propaganda and then we have to later determine what actually happened.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.