JB Pritzker calls for ‘all to stand up’ to Trump’s immigration crackdown in Chicago | Trump administration

Illinois governor JB Pritzker called “everyone to get up” to Donald Trump while the American president is preparing to launch a repression of immigration led by the federal government through Chicago, a plan that was produced by local leaders and the public.

Pritzker’s comments come as the White House officials proceed to target Chicago then in its radical immigration repression across the country. Recently, the White House asked that an American military base on the outskirts of Chicago helps immigration operations while the Trump administration provides for a broader takeover of the “sanctuary cities” managed by the Democrats.

Pritzker, a Democrat, told CBS on Sunday: “All kinds of troops in the streets of an American city does not belong to it at least there is an insurrection, unless there is really an emergency. There is not … I will do everything I can to prevent it from removing the rights of people and using the military to invade states. I think that is very important for us to get up.”

Pritzker spoke after Trump came on Saturday to Truth Social in Rant about Pritzker and Chicago, saying: “JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic governor of Illinois, just said that he did not need help to warn the crime. He is crazy !!! he would make it better, quickly or we come!”

Meanwhile, Pritzker said that no one from the Trump administration had contacted his team, the city of Chicago or any other local official.

In his interview with CBS, he said: “It is clear that they secretly plan this. If they really send American troops, this would represent an invasion. They should coordinate with local police, telling us when and where they arrive, and if it is ice, ATF or another agency.

Pritzker also pushed the accusations of Kristi Noem, the interior security secretary, who said that the Illinois “refuses to make our backs.”

“This is not true,” he said, adding: “There were police officers who made sure that there was no one interfering, attacking or causing problems for ice officials who were here … People are entitled to their first amendment … And we also protect that in the city of Chicago … We have our work, which is to fight enormous problems.

Pritzker continued: “If he wants to send troops, he should call. I was very clear on what we would like to help. But, instead, he talks about sending troops. No one is called, literally no one in the White House … If they really wanted to help, they could call and say, what you need?

The governor also accused Trump of having “other objectives, other than the fight against crime”, stressing the handful of democratic cities that have been the target of Trump’s immigration repression, notably Washington DC and Los Angeles.

“The other objectives are that he would like to stop the elections in 2026 or, frankly, take control of these elections. He will simply say that there is a problem with an election, then he has troops on the ground which can take control if it is authorized.

With an imminent federal repression in Chicago which should take place at the end of this week, the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, signed a decree on Saturday in an effort to repel the plan “out of control of the White House to deploy federal troops in the city.

The new order prohibits the Chicago police from helping federal authorities to apply civil immigration or related patrols, as well as traffic stops and control points during repression.

Johnson also ordered all the city’s ministries to protect the constitutional rights of the city’s residents “in the midst of the possibility of imminent militarized immigration or a deployment of the National Guard by the federal government”.