LOMBARD, Illinois–U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ripped Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Democrat Governor JB Pritzker for their obstruction of federal immigration enforcement in a press conference in the Chicago area on Friday morning.
Appearing in the nearby suburb of Lombard, Noem highlighted the arrests of four dangerous,criminal illegals, the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug gangs, and the confiscation of a group of firearms that ICE and other federal law enforcement officers took off the streets in the days before Noem’s trip to the Windy City.
But her main message was that Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson have stood in the way of her office being able to do even more to protect the people of Illinois. Noem said:
I’m here today because the elected leaders in this state of Illinois are ignoring the law. In fact, they’re being obstructionists when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off of their streets. They’re deciding that dangerous criminals that are murderers, rapists, money launderers have committed assault, that are trafficking children are more important than the families that live in the communities here.
That includes Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson and others who have worked so hard to protect these dangerous criminals, they’d rather be a sanctuary state and continue to put those individuals above American citizens, American citizens who built this country, who’ve raised their families here for generations, and just want to be able to walk down the street safely at night and put their kids to bed and live a peaceful life.
Drugs Confiscated from Illegal Alien Criminals Warner Todd Huston/Breitbart News
After naming the four criminal illegals ICE has taken off the streets, she again blasted Illinois’ Democrat Party leaders.
“These individuals would still be out on our streets today, committing crimes and attacking people and harming them and hurting our children, if Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson had their way, because their choice has been routinely over and over and over again to release these criminals back on the streets,” Noem exclaimed, adding:
The debate over so called sanctuary policies has real consequences, has consequences for our law enforcement officers, but also for the families that live here in the businesses that are just trying to provide for their community. Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson are answering that question every single day of who should be our priority, who should be our responsibility, and over and over again, they’re choosing criminals.
Noem went on to note that in just the last seven months, ICE has issued 16,064 detainers in Chicago and Mayor Johnson and Gov. Pritzker have ignored all but a mere eight percent of them and have allowed these criminals to walk right back out onto Chicago’s streets. Noem said:
Unfortunately, all of the politicians that have spoken out against their efforts, their will, their desire, appears to be that they would like to have more of this on their streets. More drugs out there for their kids and families be victimized, more guns out there committing crimes. That is not the work that we do in ice. The work that we do is to protect people and make sure that we remove these weapons and drugs off of our streets and hold those criminals accountable, accountable who would go forward and continue to use that to harm individuals.
Mugshots of Illegal Alien Criminals
She wrapped up her prepared comments asking the media to have the backs of law enforcement, to stop putting criminals first in their reporting, and to remember that these dangerous criminals leave dozens of victims in their wake. Noem pleaded with the media:
I would ask that you think about the family members around you, the people you’ve spent your time with, the American citizens that live next door to you in your community, start thinking about what kind of a community they want to live in, what your city should look like, what their families deserve, and put them first, make them the priority.
We’ll never apologize here for protecting the American people, but we’re going to continue to arrest dangerous, criminal illegal aliens. We will defend the homeland. That’s what ICE is doing, and I’m so proud to be able to walk with them and to lead with them while they fulfill this mission to really keep United States blessed far into the future.
Secretary Noem exposes the elected leaders of Illinois as “being obstructionists when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off of their street,” and added that Illinois Democrats put criminal illegals “above American citizens.”
As the DHS chief made her case, a small band of several dozen protesters gathered outside carrying signs and chanting slogans to protest Noem’s visit to the area. Signs called ICE agents “fascists” and some called to “abolish ICE.”
Police and federal officers kept the protesters distant from the unmarked federal building.
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