The Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, confirmed on Sunday that the Trump administration plans to expand immigration and customs compliance in the main cities, including Chicago.
When asked about the plans to expand ICE operations in Chicago specifically, Noem said “Face the Nation” of CBS News, “we have already had continuous operations with ICE in Chicago and throughout Illinois and other states, making sure that we are defending our laws, but we intend to add more resources to those operations.”
When asked how an expansion of ice operations in Chicago would be seen and if it would imply a mobilization of the National Guard troops to help with the raids and immigration arrests, Noem demured, saying: “That is always a prerogative of the president [Donald] Trump and his decision. I will not talk about the details of the operations that are planned in other cities. “
His comments occur a day after Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order that ordered the legal department of his city to explore ways to counteract a potential increase in the application of the federal law and the troops of the National Guard to Illinois.
During a press conference on Saturday, Johnson warned that Chicago officials had “received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our cities see some type of militarized activity by the Federal Government.”
Earlier this month, the Trump administration addressed the agents of federal law, including those employed by ICE, to help the police in Washington, DC, with crime combat operations. That wave of resources included thousands of national guard troops who were deployed in the capital of the Nation with the declared objective of reducing crime rates.
After the movement of troops and agents of the law to Washington, Trump threatened to send federal officers and troops to other important US cities, including Baltimore.
Later in Sunday’s interview, Noem was asked if Boston would be one of the cities where the federal government would increase immigration application agents.
“There are many cities that are dealing with crime and violence at this time, so we have not taken anything out of the table,” he said, and added later: “I encourage all the big cities: San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, whatever they are, if they want to help make their city more safe, more prosperous, allow people They should call us “”. “
Other Democratic officials, including a group of more than a dozen governors, have condemned plans to display troops in their states.
In a statement last week, they said: “Either Illinois, Maryland and New York or another state tomorrow, the president’s threats and efforts to deploy the National Guard of a State without the application and consent of the governor of that state is an alarming abuse of power, ineffective and undermines the mission of our members of the service.”
And in an interview that was broadcast on Sunday in “Face the Nation”, the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, Democrat, said: “We do not want troops in the streets of US cities. That is not American. Frankly, the president of the United States should know better.”
Pritzker also accused the Trump administration of orientation states led by Democrats instead of those who are directed by the Republicans, telling CBS: “Note that it never talks about where the most violent crime is happening, which is located in the red states … their violent crime rates are much worse in other places, and we are very proud of the work we have done.”
When asked if there are plans to deploy federal troops and officials of application of the law to the states and cities administered by Republicans, Noem said “absolutely.”
“Each city is evaluated for what we must do there to make it safer. So we have operations that, again, I will not talk about details about, but we are not looking through the point of view in everything we are doing with a political lens,” he added.
