Trump's immigration raids will begin next week, including in Chicago, Homan says: NPR

Tom Homan, the incoming “border czar,” said large-scale raids as part of President-elect Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration are set to begin Tuesday.

In an interview with Fox News on Friday evening, Homan did not provide further details, but confirmed that Chicago would be one of the targeted cities.

“On Tuesday, ICE will finally come out and do its job. We will take the handcuffs off ICE,” he said.

Homan, the former acting chief of ICE, added that immigration agents will focus on “the worst first, public safety threats first, but no one is off the table. If they're in the country illegally, they're going to get in trouble.”

The expected raids in Chicago were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. This comes after Homan visited the city in December and threatened to sue the city's mayor if he refused to cooperate.

Homan told The Washington Post on Saturday that the incoming administration was reconsidering launching raids in Chicago because details had leaked to the media, but had not yet made a final decision.

Chicago is one of hundreds of sanctuary cities and counties in the United States, which typically prevent local resources from supporting federal immigration enforcement.

The possibility of raids in Chicago reflects Homan's previous statements that he would not allow sanctuary authorities to impede the incoming administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Beatriz Ponce de Leon, Chicago's deputy mayor for immigrant and refugee rights, said Saturday that news that immigration raids could begin in Chicago on Tuesday “wasn't a surprise,” but “hearing the confirmation made it more real, more 'cementer.'

She said the city is ready. In addition to community agencies holding “Know Your Rights” events everywhere, she said Chicago leaders have met with city departments and sister agencies, such as police and the public school district, to detail existing city policies.

An estimated 11 million immigrants live in the United States without legal status.

Both Homan and Trump pledged to carry out the largest deportation operation in US history. But the plan is expected to face legal and logistical hurdles, including where to house millions of people once they are arrested.

In Chicago, community organizers and elected officials are seeking to encourage residents not to panic

On the city's southwest side, Annie Hoamani, a community organizer with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, has been taking requests for “know your rights” trainings and leading a rapid response team via private group chat. Team members are ready to dispatch if ICE agents arrive in her community.

“Obviously every scenario is different,” Hoamani said. “If they are there to detain someone, the rapid response teams respond differently. We have to shout, ‘These are your rights.’” You know, who can we contact? Give us a phone number.’ We also try to register… ICE agents, if there is an ICE truck or if it is an unrecognizable truck.”

At the same time, 20 applications for training were received.

The biggest fear among immigrants who don't have legal status in the United States is leaving their children behind, Hoamani said.

During Trump's first administration, his “zero tolerance” policy led to more than 5,000 children being separated from their parents who crossed the border, without systems to track and reunite families. Some also fear they will be arrested or detained in unfamiliar cities or states. Huamani advises people at risk of being detained by ICE to save at least three phone numbers so they can be located if they are detained by ICE.

Organizers are concerned that ICE agents may target the city's southwest side and conduct raids at workplaces in nearby suburbs, where there are also large concentrations of immigrants without legal status.

Garren Gatewood, Chicago's deputy mayor for community safety, said the police department has been operating under the city's 40-year-old Welcoming Law, which states that immigration enforcement is up to the federal government.

The Chicago Police Department does not document immigration status or share information with federal immigration authorities, spokesman Don Terry said in a statement. But he added that the police “will not interfere or interfere with any other government agency performing its duties.”

“From top to bottom, everyone at CPD understands the roles they play,” he said. “This is not the first time they have come into contact with federal agents working on immigration status.”

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office did not provide a response to the news that immigration raids will begin in Chicago next week. The office provided a copy of the governor's statement at a December 11 press conference, where he said he “believes it is his duty to protect” immigrants without legal status who have not committed violent crimes.

WBEZ has more on how Chicago is preparing for the incoming Trump administration.