the mayor of Chicago intends to resist Trump's offensive migration policy

Fear in the city. Donald Trump promises “the largest deportation operation in history”. And his collaborator Tom Homan, responsible for border control, cited Chicago among the first cities that will be targeted by police actions against illegal immigrants. Faced with this offensive on the Illinois metropolis, the mayor promises to resist. “We will remain firm, we will protect undocumented immigrants. We will protect blacks, Latinos, Asians”said Brandon Johnson in a public speech. Before adding: “The hostility that reigns in this political space is unreasonable and dangerous.”

That the new administration chooses to make Chicago a laboratory for its immigration policy is no coincidence. Long nicknamed “crime capital”the city is today plagued by very strong immigration. According to CBS News, 20,000 migrants will have reached Chicago between 2022 and 2023, most of them from Venezuela. Some of them come from convoys sent to Illinois by the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott. The latter intended to export to the heart of the Democratic strongholds of the East Coast, the migration crisis suffered by the Southern states. Beyond this recent and forced influx, Chicago City Hall has for many years offered a welcoming policy towards people in an irregular situation.

Chicago, “a sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants

Passed in 2017, the Illinois Trust Act encourages greater trust between immigrant communities and state law enforcement agencies. This pro-immigration trend dates back to 1985 and an executive order by then-Mayor Harold Washington making Chicago “a sanctuary city”. The order prohibited police and municipal officials from questioning residents about their legal status and ended cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It is still applied today.

Brandon Johnson, a proponent of this policy, issued several recommendations to Chicago's immigrant populations: do not allow ICE agents (editor's note, l’United States Immigration and Customs Enforcementthe agency responsible for border control and immigration) to enter “private or sensitive places”demand copies of arrest warrants or even take written notes of the progress of an intervention. “No matter who occupies the White House, our city will always be a place of welcome and inclusion. Our fight for justice and equality will never waver.” he wrote on X.

No one is safe. If people are in the country illegally, they have a problem

Tom Homan, collaborator of Donald Trump, in charge of borders

According to Tom Homan, nicknamed by Donald Trump “the border tsar”the first step of the«Operation safeguard»scheduled to last until January 27, should concern “300 people” and mobilize “150 ICE agents” (editor’s note, l’United States Immigration and Customs Enforcementthe agency responsible for border control and immigration). In an interview given to conservative media Fox Newson January 17, he presented the main points of his method: “We told ICE, 'You're going to enforce immigration law without excuses.' You'll focus first on the worst threats to public safety, but no one is safe. If people are in the country illegally, they have a problem.”

In 2019, under Donald Trump's first term, ICE deported 267,000 people, recalls le New York Times . Much less than under Barack Obama, who allowed the departure of 400,000 illegal immigrants in one year.