In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials two days ago, far-left Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois asked — in the name of Chicago’s children — to let illegal aliens in the Windy City run wild this Halloween weekend.
Noem’s answer: Forget it. The crackdown will continue.
Pritzker requested the hiatus in enforcement because Border Patrol agents, he wrote, deployed tear gas during a Halloween parade for kids. That wasn’t the whole story, of course.
Tear Gas Parade?
Pritzker pointed to an ABC News report that described what went on, with the usual input from a “resident.”
“On Saturday, Border Patrol agents converged on the Old Irving Park neighborhood on the city’s Northwest Side to conduct an immigration enforcement raid. Neighborhood residents claimed the agents interrupted a children’s Halloween parade and allegedly deployed tear gas without warning on residents trying to intervene,” the network reported:
Video footage that was verified by ABC News showed agents deploying tear gas and tackling and arresting several people, including U.S. citizens, outside homes decked out in Halloween decorations.
Then came the voice of the “resident,” one Carlos Rodriguez, whose immigration status ABC did not disclose.
In one video confirmed by ABC News, resident Carlos Rodriguez is heard yelling at agents, “You’re scaring our children to death.”
“Unbelievable. Never thought this would happen in my neighborhood — scaring our children to death, thinking this is a cool thing to do,” Rodriguez said in the video.
To its credit, ABC included a statement of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesman Tricia McLaughlin. She explained why the agents deployed the tear gas: A hostile crowd confronted the agents, a commonplace scene in Chicago, while they arrested a “criminal illegal alien from Mexico, who has previously been arrested for assault.”
Pritzker’s Letter
Noting that incident, Pritzker’s missive to Noem segued into “aggressive operations in residential neighborhoods and near schools, parks, and places of worship — reportedly deploying chemical agents and detaining individuals indiscriminately.”
Pritzker claimed federal agents are deliberately targeting “Black and Brown people, including U.S. citizens and those who have not been charged with crimes.”
He asked Noem, acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Chief Todd Lyons, and Rodney Scott, head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), to cease operations “that could endanger or harm perfectly innocent children in our communities during this Halloween weekend.”
“Illinois children should not be robbed of their innocence,” Pritzker closed:
Let them enjoy a time-honored American tradition safely and peacefully. Please let children be children for one holiday, free from intimidation and fear.
Noem: No Way
Asked about the request at a news conference, Noem was ready with an answer.
“No we’re absolutely not willing to put on pause any work that we will do to keep communities safe,” Noem replied:
The fact that Governor Pritzker is asking for that is shameful, and I think unfortunate that he doesn’t recognize how important the work is that we do to make sure we’re bringing criminals to justice and getting them off our streets, especially when we’re going to send all of our kiddos out on the streets and going to events and enjoying the holiday season. We want to make sure that they’re safe. And if you see, even up here we have individuals that we picked up off the streets with our ICE officers and CBP officers, that have assault against a child, child pedophiles, rapes. Those individuals don’t deserve to be on our streets, and we’re certainly not gonna let our kids be victimized by them.
Noem repeated the answer on Fox News. Agents, she vowed, will hit the streets in “full force.”
Pritzker prevaricated in reply on X:
We know Kristi Noem must love Halloween because she always dresses in law enforcement costumes, but what is truly shameful is that she refuses to agree that we shouldn’t tear gas children trick or treating.
Attack on ICE
Federal agents have not tear gassed children while trick-or-treating. But they did deploy tear gas on October 23, when far-left rioters attacked Border Patrol agents during an enforcement operation.
As The New American reported yesterday, DHS released a video in which drone and bodycam footage shows exactly what occurred.
The drone view shows gang members boxing in a Border Patrol vehicle then running down an alley to change license plates and retrieve “high-powered weapons.”
Other footage recorded deranged scatological ranting at the agents from a woman who said their daughters would be raped. Video of a rooftop at the scene showed an individual watching the riot, or perhaps signaling rioters. One rioter threw a “liquid object” at agents.
Rioters also “shot at agents with commercial artillery shell fireworks,” DHS reported on X:
A Border Patrol transport van carrying illegal aliens attempting to get to the safety of the perimeter was then attacked. Border Patrol agents were able to secure the van and get it into the perimeter. The mob of rioters grew more hostile and violent, advancing toward agents and began throwing rocks and other objects at agents, including one that struck Chief Greg Bovino in the head.
Pritzker’s Attacks on ICE
Aside from repeatedly calling federal immigration agents “Nazis” and “Gestapo,” Pritzker is threatening to prosecute them for enforcing the law.
Earlier this month, he told Fox32 in Chicago that vengeance was ahead:
The tables will turn one day. These people should recognize that maybe they’re not gonna get prosecuted today, although we’re looking at doing that, but they may get prosecuted after the Trump administration because the statute of limitations would not have run out.
To no avail, DHS has repeatedly asked Pritzker and other top Democrats, who also call ICE agents Nazis and terrorists, to stop the hateful rhetoric, which is likely driving the massive increase in assault on officers.
McLaughlin told Fox News that threats against agents and their families have increased 8,000 percent.
