Chicago City Wire

Don Rosenberg, president of Advocates for Victims of Illegal Alien Crime (AVIAC), is calling for Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia to be “locked up” after she suspended the online application portal for the CityKey municipal ID — a program some say shields undocumented immigrants from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — following a subpoena from ICE.

“Get the records and lock her up for obstruction and violation of 8 USC 1324,” Rosenberg told Chicago City Wire. “Time to get serious with government officials who aid and abet illegal aliens.”

The U.S. Code section 1324 outlines criminal penalties for those who bring in or harbor undocumented immigrants.

Ann Valencia | City of Chicago

Rosenberg founded AVIAC after his 25-year-old son, Drew, was killed in 2010 by an unlicensed driver who was undocumented. AVIAC advocates for family members who have lost loved ones to crimes committed by illegal immigrants. 

Valencia suspended the CityKey online portal after ICE subpoenaed her office for information about applicants. The CityKey cards allow undocumented immigrants to use CTA transit, check out library books and receive discounts from local businesses.

“This was a tough decision as this program serves a number of vulnerable populations that rely on the accessibility of City Key, and ultimately, that’s also the reason I’m pausing our online platform,” Valencia said in a statement.

She added that the federal government was “terrorizing its own people.”

Valencia was reportedly supported by Mayor Brandon Johnson and Corporation Counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry.

According to The Hill, tensions between city officials and ICE are expected to rise as federal immigration enforcement targets major Democratic-led cities including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

“After President Trump deployed National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles to contend with protestors opposing deportation raids, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) is expecting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to be sent ‘in force’ to Chicago,” The Hill reported.

By the end of this year, Illinois will have spent more than $2.5 billion over five years on health care and housing for migrants, many undocumented, according to a recent report by the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI). The amount exceeds earlier estimates.

The audit compared estimated and actual health care costs. For seniors, the original estimate from 2021 to 2023 was $224 million; actual expenditures were $412.3 million, an 84% increase.

Costs for adults ages 42 to 64 were even higher. The estimated three-year cost was $126.4 million; actual spending reached $485.3 million, nearly four times the estimate.

IPI spokesman Micky Horstman told Chicago City Wire that it is difficult to determine how many migrants receiving benefits are undocumented.

“It's not just illegal migrants but migrants who are non-citizens and thus non-eligible for Medicaid. Undocumented migrants make a significant share of that total though,” he said. “The $478 million [amount spent beyond health care] is mostly for asylum seekers. Saying illegal gets a bit tricky since there are caveats to legality of certain migrants.”