Deployment of National Guard to Chicago in question as ICE operation ramps up
As the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Chicago ramps up, the White House has sent mixed signals over the past day about possibly sending in the National Guard.
President Trump on Tuesday appeared to backtrack on sending in troops to Chicago.
"We're going to be announcing another city that we're going to very shortly," he said after dining at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. "We're working it out with the governor of a certain state that would love us to be there, and the mayor of a certain city in that same state would love us to be there. We'll announce it probably tomorrow, and it's going to be something where we'll do like we did here."
The federal government's 30-day takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., expires Wednesday, although the D.C. National Guard will remain posted throughout the district.
With the president suggesting another city could see a National Guard instead, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's sources inside the White House have signaled Chicago might no longer be the primary focus of the Trump administration's National Guard effort.
"They're not calling us now, which I think is a good sign. It is a sign that they are not hearing things that are suspiciously like we're going to see military troops coming," Pritzker said. "I take it that the silence of the last day or two from those folks is an indication that maybe there's some other place or other focus that the president is putting his attention."
Pritzker said it's a good sign a troop deployment isn't imminent in Chicago, but stressed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts in Chicago are just getting started, with agents netting more than a dozen arrests in recent days.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security touted the arrests of 13 people as part of "Operation Midway Blitz."
"In just the last few days in Chicago, ICE has arrested pedophiles, rapists, abusers, armed robbers, and other violent thugs," Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the federal government still has not provided any official communication with the city on their immigration crackdown in Chicago.
"Nothing has been communicated with us, and that's what the problem has been," he said.
Johnson said the rollout of a new website will be coming soon to help anyone in Chicago feeling under pressure by ICE raids.
In Pilsen, box trucks have been spotted with large video boards displaying scrolling "know your rights" messages to equip residents with information in case ICE knocks on their door.
Illinois leaders said they're hopeful the president's threatened National Guard rollout has been delayed or canceled, while reiterating the ICE efforts are just getting going.
"They clearly have not gone out in full force yet here, with seemingly the number of people from ICE that they intended to have on the ground working. We haven't seen all of those folks yet, but I anticipate that we will," Pritzker said.
Pritzker said, to his knowledge, approximately 200 ICE agents and 100 ICE vehicles have been deployed in and around Chicago in recent days.
As for Chicago apparently being put on the back burner of the president's National Guard deployments, Pritzker said it's good news, but he's not convinced the White House won't send troops in eventually.