Mayor Johnson, Governor Pritzker speak out against mass deportations promised by President Trump
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The city of Chicago is taking new steps in the battle to protect undocumented immigrants. It's launching an informational campaign in conjunction with the CTA.
The campaign comes as Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker are once again pushing back on the Trump administration's promise of mass deportations.
In a one-on-one interview with ABC7, Mayor Johnson spoke about leading Chicago under the new Trump administration.
Mayor Johnson spoke at an event on public safety Thursday at Kennedy King College. Earlier in the day, he talked about the city's efforts to provide safety for undocumented immigrants worried about those deportations.
Public transit is just the latest tool that the Johnson administration is using to protect undocumented immigrants from the mass deportations promised by President Donald Trump.
The digital monitors at stations that provide information on train schedules are now also helping those not in the country legally to "know their rights."
"Any of the measures that the President is looking to execute against working people in the city of Chicago," Johnson said. "We will defend our city. It's just that simple."
Governor Pritzker once again went after President Trump Thursday, speaking at an event announcing state business grants. He promised the state will not back down when it comes to protecting the rights of people who are undocumented.
"I will stand up for residents of the state of Illinois who are abiding by the law, who are holding down jobs, who are paying taxes," Pritzker said. "I mean, we should stand up for them. That is the right thing to do, but he's trying to tear things down."
SEE ALSO | Resources available to undocumented individuals who may be impacted by Trump's immigration plan
Even after the Trump administration announced that it will pursue targets for deportation at schools, CPS said ICE agents will not be let in without valid judicial warrants.
"It is rare that that happens, but even in that rare instance, they're gonna have to go to our legal department," CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said. "We have three lawyers that they're gonna verify that. I don't, my staff do not need to be lawyers."
Also Thursday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued updated guidance for law enforcement. Under state law, local agencies are not allowed to participate in civil immigration enforcement.
A federal judge has sided with Raoul and attorneys general in more than 20 other states, blocking the Trump administration's move to end birthright citizenship, likely setting the stage for a legal battle.
In an interview with ABC7, Johnson made it clear that Chicago will not be intimidated by any threats of action from the the Trump administration even ones that could land him or the city in court.
The mayor is ready for wherever the battle may go over the rights of undocumented immigrants who are just minding their own business and going about their lives.
"Well first of all, let me just reaffirm our position as as clearly as I possibly can, that we will always remain a welcoming and sanctuary space," Johnson said when asked what he makes of the fact that the city has seen no raids so far.
The mayor said he has no intelligence on when any raids by ICE agents could happen, or how many people might be targeted, although sources have told ABC7 Homeland Security is going after dozens of people in Chicago.
The Trump DOJ seems now to have taken the gloves off by saying it will pursue deportation targets in schools and churches.
READ MORE | Trump authorizes ICE to target schools and churches as mass deportation fears grow in Chicago
"And I find that to be, to be quite frank with you, I find that to be unconscionable and reprehensible," Johnson said.
A Department of Justice memo this week said those who impeded immigration enforcement could be subject to prosecution.
"My main focus is protecting the residents and the people of the city of Chicago," Johnson said. "You know, the threats that are coming from this current administration are threats that we're not intimidated by."
U.S. Attorneys offices across the country have also been directed to review sanctuary laws and be prepared to challenge them in court if warranted.
"So I've directed my corporate counsel to look at all of the executive orders that are coming from the current administration, and we will have a comprehensive response to each of those executive orders," Johnson said.
The mayor saying the main objective at this moment is to ensure the safety of people in Chicago.
Full CPD statement:
"In accordance with the City of Chicago's Municipal Code, which includes the Welcoming City Ordinance, the Chicago Police Department does not assist federal immigration authorities with enforcement action solely based on immigration status. Additionally, CPD does not document immigration status and does not share such information with federal authorities.
CPD is prohibited by the Welcoming City Ordinance from participating in civil immigration enforcement operations or assist in the civil enforcement of federal immigration law. CPD's Responding to Incidents Involving Citizenship Status policy also states that if the Department receives a request from an immigration agency to provide assistance with a civil immigration enforcement operation, a supervisor will respond to the scene. If the request is to assist in the enforcement of civil immigration law, the supervisor will decline the request. If the request is unrelated to civil immigration law, appropriate police action will be taken. The Responding to Incidents Involving Citizenship Status policy was recently revised to require a supervisor of higher rank (a Watch Operations Lieutenant or Street Deputy) respond to the scenes of these requests, in addition to the previously required supervisor from the district of occurrence.
To be clear, the Chicago Police Department will not assist or intervene in civil immigration enforcement in accordance with the City of Chicago Municipal Code. As always, we will continue to enforce the law if a crime occurs, regardless of the citizenship status of those involved."
Full CPS statement:
"Chicago Public Schools remains committed to protecting the rights of all students to a free public education, regardless of their immigration status or the immigration status of their family. While the District understands there is an executive order to rescind language about "sensitive locations," including schools, and ICE arrests, CPS does not plan to share private student-level information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) except in the rare case where there is a court order or consent from a parent or guardian. We remain committed to ensuring that our schools remain the safest places for all students and that the focus remains on providing a high quality pre-K-12 education."
Full CTU statement:
"Today, the Chicago Public Schools are staring down a real threat. According to reporting from various sources, our newly-minted U.S. President has decided to make the City of Chicago the opening scene for his mass deportation horror film -an attempt to use the power of the White House to rip apart families, disrupt communities and potentially try to violate the safest places in our neighborhoods, public schools.
Here is the reality: Donald Trump told everyone who he would be when he returned to the White House. Anyone in a leadership position not doing everything in their power to prepare and respond is doing a disservice to the communities they serve. This reality should cause our CEO, Pedro Martinez, to get busy ensuring that our city's public schools are safe for our vulnerable immigrant students, parents and educators and taking action to safeguard Black history, gender equality, the recruitment of Black teachers, and the other pieces of Chicago's education system that we know are in the crosshairs of this new administration.
A couple of years ago, the CTU fought for and won sanctuary policies at CPS to make sure our students can learn in a safe environment regardless of their immigration status. Because of our last contract, there are protocols to prevent ICE officers from having free access to our school buildings, to activate legal responses, and to protect our students' rights-we need our CEO to enforce our contract with implementation and training protocols that help keep our students and their families safe.
CPS has sent out an email on the topic but has not provided training to our members. We are concerned that CPS and CEO Pedro Martinez have violated our agreement to conduct joint training to address these circumstances. Section 46.7.6 of our agreement requires CPS to collaborate with CTU to design and implement district-wide training, beginning in 2019, to protect school communities from unauthorized ICE agent entry into school buildings. Unfortunately, despite our requests and efforts, this need has not been met and we have sent recent communications to the CEO to comply with CPS' contractual commitments.
Despite not receiving training from the district, we are preparing our members to create 'sanctuary teams' and working in each school to ensure educators know what to do in case of a raid and are prepared to protect our students and their rights. Students should know that one of the safest places they can be is at their school."
And that is why we will continue to push our CEO to work with us to ensure that our schools are safe and welcoming places for all of our students. Sanctuary and safety includes fully staffing our schools with guidance counselors, social workers, librarians and a high-quality school day, one that will bring joy, affirmation, and academic success."