Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday he expects Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to employ the same aggressive strategies they used in Los Angeles earlier this summer after President Donald Trump said he will deploy the National Guard to Chicago.
The information, Pritzker said, was not directly communicated to him, but rather gleaned from anonymous sources in the federal government, military and “well-sourced” news reports. He said he’s been told members of the Texas National Guard are being readied for deployment to Chicago and many of the same federal ICE and Homeland Security groups that worked in L.A. are being relocated to Chicago.
Pritzker said Illinois State Police received a call from Customs and Border Protection Chief Gregory Bovino over the weekend confirming that ICE will ramp up immigration enforcement in Chicago at some point this week. But the call, Pritzker said, was more rhetorical than informational.
Bovino, who was recently described in a New York Times article as “the face” of Trump’s immigration policies, led immigration operations in L.A., which included aggressive and sometimes controversial tactics leading to claims of racial profiling, according to the Times.
“Any rational person who has spent even the most minimal amount of time studying human history has to ask themselves one important question: Once they get the citizens of this nation comfortable with the current atrocities committed under the color of law, what comes next?” Pritzker said.
To what extent the effort will be aided by the National Guard is unclear. But just minutes before Pritzker took questions, Trump removed any doubt that he’d like to deploy the National Guard – even as a federal judge in California ruled Tuesday that his Guard deployment in L.A. was illegal.
“We’re going in. I didn’t say when we’re going in,” Trump said from the Oval Office, repeating that he wants Pritzker to call him and ask for help.
Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago will be the staging grounds for ICE, the Sun-Times reported. Pritzker said staging began at the base Monday.
The governor also said he believes the Trump administration planned to come to Chicago in September to target Mexican Independence Day celebrations.
“Let’s be clear: the terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anyone living here,” he said.
Chicago has one of the largest Latino populations in the nation, and 74% of that group are of Mexican heritage, according to a study last year by the University of Illinois Chicago. The city’s Mexican Independence Day parade is scheduled for Sept. 14.
Pritzker encouraged residents to learn their rights and film ICE’s work.
“Authoritarians thrive on your silence,” he said. “Be loud for America.”
Pritzker also warned protesters to remain peaceful and said Trump plans to use skirmishes with ICE to justify sending the National Guard.
“If someone flings a sandwich at an ICE agent, Trump will try and go on TV and declare an emergency in Chicago,” he said. “I’m imploring everyone, if and when that happens, do not take the bait.”
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he plans to take legal action if federal officials take unconstitutional actions, including in law enforcement duties.
“President Trump has been utilizing the notion that he and he alone can deal with crime in American cities, and his preferred tool in doing so is the American military,” Raoul said. “The problem with this approach is that it’s both bad strategy and illegal.”
L.A. deployment illegal, judge rules
A federal judge in California ruled Tuesday morning that Trump’s troop deployment to Los Angeles in June to fight crime violated an 1878 law prohibiting the military from carrying out domestic law enforcement. The judge wrote there is ample evidence to suggest Trump plans to continue violating the law, citing the president’s statements about Chicago.
Trump activated thousands of members of the National Guard without California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s permission to manage protests against aggressive immigration raids in the city. The judge ruled there was no evidence of rebellion or that local law enforcement was unable to manage the protests themselves.
The ruling provides Illinois with a legal precedent to lean on should Trump again try to deploy the National Guard in Chicago under the guise of managing protests and protecting ICE officials.
“I would love to do it now,” Trump said of Chicago. “We’re going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country.”
Raoul said no situations that would allow the president to deploy the National Guard in Chicago exists.
“The militia clauses of the United States Constitution give Congress sole authority to decide the circumstances that allow the president to federalize the National Guard,” Raoul said. “The 10th Amendment preserves states’ sovereignty to enforce state laws as they see fit.”
Labor Day weekend violence
Labor Day weekend was violent in Chicago. Fifty-eight people were shot and eight were killed in incidents across the city, which included three mass shootings.
The violence marked an uptick from last year’s Labor Day weekend when 22 people were shot and eight were killed.
Trump inflated where Chicago ranks on crime compared to other cities in his remarks Tuesday, comparing it to Afghanistan and again calling it a “hell hole.”
“The president’s absurd characterizations do not match what is happening on the ground here,” Pritzker said. “He has no idea what he’s talking about. There is no emergency that warrants deployment of troops.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson blamed Trump for the city’s gun violence problems because Trump’s administration has withheld federal funding for violence prevention from the city. He added he welcomes more partnerships with federal law enforcement agencies.
Violent crime is down in Chicago this year, however. Chicago Police Department data through Aug. 24 shows crime is down 13% overall compared to 2024, including murders down 32%. Crime remains up 40% from 2021, however.