CHICAGO — President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar vows that the biggest city in the Midwest will be “ground zero” for mass deportations, and officials across the political spectrum in Chicago are bracing for a showdown.
On one end, Lincoln United Methodist Church, in the historically Hispanic Pilsen neighborhood, has canceled in-person Spanish services to protect its congregation from potential immigration roundups or targeted hate crimes. Worshippers can still access services online.
“I think people are scared right now for what is to come with the new administration,” the Rev. Tanya Lozano Washington said. “We’re doing everything we can to explore every single option to continue to protect our community members that are vulnerable.”
The Rev. Tanya Lozano Washington is a pastor at Lincoln United Methodist Church in Chicago, which has canceled in-person Spanish services ahead of a second Trump term.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were planning a major enforcement operation that would target immigrants for several days after Trump’s inauguration, according to a document reviewed by NBC News and a person familiar with the planning. Tom Homan, the incoming border czar, said Saturday that the administration hadn’t “made a decision yet” after news of the planned operation began to leak.
Follow live politics coverage
Chicago will not be the first city to see mass deportations begin, two sources with knowledge of the plans told NBC News Sunday night, after the operation in the city was postponed (but not canceled) due to media leaks.
Still, the fight over illegal immigration in Chicago has the potential to be among the fiercest nationwide during the initial weeks of Trump’s second term — and it could be a microcosm of an unprecedented ramp-up of immigration enforcement, one of the major themes of Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Chicago, the country’s third-largest city, is led by Democrats, which makes it a natural foil to Trump’s hard-line campaign promises about immigration. Republicans have long slammed it as a metropolitan area plagued by violent crime, though recent statistics show crime has been falling in cities and towns across the United States.
On the other end of the spectrum from Lozano Washington and her church, conservatives are welcoming Trump’s promised crackdown after years of a budget-busting migrant influx.
“It is absolutely not sustainable,” said Sean Morrison, a Cook County commissioner who is chairman of the county GOP. Cook County and Chicago have spent nearly a billion dollars each to address the influx.
Morrison credits Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a fellow Republican, for raising awareness of border security issues by busing migrants to major cities across the country like Chicago.
“Had he not done that, I don’t know that the dynamic that we’re experiencing right now today would exist,” Morrison said.
Sean Morrison, a Cook County commissioner who supports Donald Trump, says the migrant influx of the past few years is unsustainable.
The issue is proving politically treacherous even for politicians in the middle. Last week, a debate exploded at the City Council over a proposal to water down Chicago’s sanctuary city ordinance protecting undocumented immigrants. It voted 39-11 to prevent a vote on an amendment proposed by Aldermen Raymond Lopez and Silvana Tabares, which would have allowed the Chicago Police Department to work with federal immigration authorities in cases in which undocumented immigrants have been arrested or convicted of certain crimes.
“The left is coming after folks like myself who are trying to find a middle ground,” Lopez, a Democrat, said in an interview. “Because I’m not trying to make Donald Trump the enemy for the next four years to win my re-election. I’m trying to protect people in the community.”
Under the Welcoming City Ordinance, Chicago police aren’t allowed to ask people about their immigration status or cooperate in any federal immigration enforcement efforts.
After the proposal to chip away at the policy failed, Mayor Brandon Johnson lamented “the fear that has found its way in the city of Chicago because of the threats that are coming from the incoming administration. People of Chicago can rest assured that the full force of government will do everything in its power to protect the residents of the city.”
Critics of Lopez’s proposal said that it’s unclear how the certain crimes would be specifically defined and that the proposal would raise due process concerns.
“They are lying to the public for their own political agenda,” he said.
Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez has drawn the ire of his more progressive colleagues for his willingness to work with incoming border czar Tom Homan to arrest undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
Lopez drew the ire of Democrats to his political left by meeting with Homan, the incoming border czar.
“I think that we are on the same page: that if he has the opportunity just to focus on the criminals, that is more than enough to keep him busy for the next four years,” Lopez said.
Homan has repeatedly blasted Chicago leaders as a war of words has escalated after Trump’s re-election, arguing Democrats are the reason Chicago is in “trouble.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker responded to Homan’s threats at a news conference last month.
“We have laws that protect undocumented immigrants, and we’re going to follow the law. I’m concerned that the Trump administration and his lackeys aren’t,” Pritzker said, though he did add that “violent criminals who are undocumented and convicted of violent crime should be deported.”
Since Trump was last in office, Illinois has gone even further in its efforts to protect people who are there without legal status by strengthening the TRUST Act, which instituted extensive guidelines restricting law enforcement agencies statewide from assisting in matters related to federal civil immigration law.
Morrison, the Republican county commissioner, argued that sanctuary policies break federal law and undermine the sovereignty of the nation.
“I do think that there will be a showdown here,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Read the full article here
