Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker calls armed immigration officers in Chicago an 'attack on Americans'

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker denounced the Trump administration’s deployment of armed Border Patrol and immigration officers, some wearing masks, in Chicago and other parts of the state at a news conference Monday.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker denounced the Trump administration’s deployment of armed Border Patrol and immigration officers, some wearing masks, in Chicago and other parts of the state at a news conference Monday. He called the moves “authoritarianism” and an attack on Americans.

Bristling from weeks of what he labeled “chaos” — including a weekend of clashes between the agents and demonstrators — Pritzker condemned armed officers patrolling city streets and the Chicago River stopping and arresting people. His message to them: “Get out of Chicago. You are not helping us.”

Pritzker warned the administration may be about to escalate its operation with the addition of military troops and equipment. Moments before the news conference, the Illinois National Guard received word that the Department of Homeland Security had sent a memo to the Defense Department seeking deployment of 100 military troops to Illinois, Pritzker said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The presence of federal officers in the Chicago area is part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants and cities that President Donald Trump says are plagued by crime. He has claimed Chicago is a “hellhole.”

The Trump administration deployed ICE and CBP agents to Chicago in what it said was a bid to reduce crime and increase immigration enforcement.Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times via APTrump has deployed National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York and may send about 200 to Portland, Oregon.