Chicago City Wire

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticized Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker during a visit to the Chicago area last week, focusing on their sanctuary policies that she said protect criminal migrants and endanger public safety.

At a press conference held August 8 at a DHS facility in Lombard, Noem reported the arrests of four individuals described as dangerous criminal migrants, along with the seizure of large sums of money and firearms from drug gangs operating in Chicago. She directly addressed Johnson and Pritzker for what she characterized as obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to arrest and deport migrant criminals.

"I'm here today because the elected leaders in this state of Illinois are ignoring the law. In fact, they're being obstructionists when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off of their streets. They're deciding that dangerous criminals that are murderers, rapists, money launderers have committed assault, that are trafficking children are more important than the families that live in the communities here," Noem told members of the press.

"That includes Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson and others who have worked so hard to protect these dangerous criminals, they'd rather be a sanctuary state and continue to put those individuals above American citizens, American citizens who built this country, who've raised their families here for generations, and just want to be able to walk down the street safely at night and put their kids to bed and live a peaceful life," Noem said.

Noem stated that if not for federal intervention, the four men whose booking photos were displayed would still be free in Chicago. "These individuals would still be out on our streets today, committing crimes and attacking people and harming them and hurting our children, if Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson had their way, because their choice has been routinely over and over and over again to release these criminals back on the streets," she said.

She also commented on the impact of sanctuary policies: "The debate over so called sanctuary policies has real consequences, has consequences for our law enforcement officers, but also for the families that live here in the businesses that are just trying to provide for their community. Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson are answering that question every single day of who should be our priority, who should be our responsibility, and over and over again, they're choosing criminals."

Noem cited ICE data indicating that 16,064 detainers had been issued in Chicago but only about eight percent were honored by city officials. She argued this allowed hundreds of suspected criminals back into local communities.

"Unfortunately, all of the politicians that have spoken out against their efforts, their will, their desire, appears to be that they would like to have more of this on their streets. More drugs out there for their kids and families be victimized, more guns out there committing crimes. That is not the work that we do in ice. The work that we do is to protect people and make sure that we remove these weapons and drugs off of our streets and hold those criminals accountable, accountable who would go forward and continue to use that to harm individuals," Noem said.

Chicago has seen an increase in crime associated with newly arrived migrants according to local police reports. In one example from May 2024 cited by officials at the event but not independently confirmed by outside sources or authorities present at Friday’s press conference—a Venezuelan immigrant living at a downtown shelter was arrested multiple times by Chicago Police. Another Venezuelan migrant was charged with homicide last year; Cook County Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman reportedly referred to it as an "execution." CPD statistics show more than 1,000 Venezuelan migrants were arrested in 2024.

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently described Chicago's crime rate as a "disaster." Meanwhile Governor Pritzker has opened additional state-funded shelters for migrants despite ongoing concerns about public safety.

Mayor Johnson has warned about budget pressures facing Chicago’s finances while continuing funding for services provided to new arrivals.

During Noem’s press conference in Lombard approximately 40 protesters gathered outside carrying signs critical of ICE operations; some called agents “fascists” or demanded abolition of ICE altogether. Law enforcement kept demonstrators separated from federal facilities where Noem spoke.