The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned it was transferring ahead with ramped-up immigration enforcement in Chicago this week in an effort dubbed Operation Halfway Blitz.
“This ICE operation will goal the felony unlawful aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois as a result of they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary insurance policies would shield them and permit them to roam free on American Streets,” the division mentioned in a press release Monday. The division mentioned the mission can be carried out “in honor of Katie Abraham,” who was killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run crash that occurred in Urbana, about 130 miles south of Chicago, earlier this 12 months.
Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin mentioned the operation “will goal the worst of the worst felony unlawful aliens in Chicago.”
The division didn’t specify how lengthy the operation is predicted to final, however a spokesperson with ICE mentioned, in a press release: “ICE has all the time operated in Chicago, concentrating on enforcement across the harmful felony aliens which can be drawn to this sanctuary metropolis. … We’ll proceed our regulation enforcement and public security mission, undeterred, as we surge ICE assets within the metropolis in coordination with our federal companions from throughout Division of Homeland Safety and Division of Justice.”
The transfer comes after President Trump, in a submit on Fact Social on Saturday, invoked imagery from the film “Apocalypse Now” and wrote, “‘I like the scent of deportations within the morning …’ Chicago about to seek out out why it is referred to as the Division of WAR.”
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the highest Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused the Trump administration of ramping up its marketing campaign “to arrest hardworking immigrants with no felony convictions.”
“These actions do not make us safer. They’re a waste of cash, stoke worry, and symbolize one other failed try at a distraction,” Durbin mentioned in a press release.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened so as to add Chicago to the checklist of different Democratic-led cities he is focused for expanded federal enforcement, together with Los Angeles and Washington. The transfer marks the most recent flashpoint in a broader nationwide battle over how far the federal authorities can push native authorities to cooperate with its immigration agenda.
It is a creating story and will probably be up to date.
