DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Shreds Chicago Mayor over Sanctuary Policies

DHS head calls out Mayor Brandon Johnson for allowing criminal illegals to roam free in Chicago

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ripped Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker in a visit to the Chicago area last week for their sanctuary policies that protect dangerous illegal alien criminals and endanger the lives of citizens.

Noem held a press conference on Friday, August 8, in Lombard at a DHS facility where she reported the arrests of four dangerous criminal illegals, the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars and guns from drug gangs in the Windy City. But she also took aim squarely at both Johnson and Pritzker for refusing to allow ICE to do its work to arrest and deport dangerous migrant criminals and other lawbreakers.

"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 the group of 20 some members of the press, including this reporter.

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"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 pointed out that the four dangerous men, whose booking photos covered the poster boards behind her, would still be roaming the streets if Mayor Johnson had his way.

"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," Noem said.

"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 then pointed out that Chicago has had a particularly dangerous effect on the safety of the citizenry.

Noem then explained that ICE has issued an astounding 16,064 detainers in Chicago and Johnson has ignored all but a tiny eight percent of them, allowing hundreds of criminals to walk right back out into the population.

"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.

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Of course, the other big problem with Chicago's sanctuary policies is that illegals are flocking to the city for hundreds of million in free benefits Johnson continues to bestow on them.

Chicago has been swamped with crime by the thousands of illegals Mayor Johnson allowed into the city. In May, for instance, Carlos Mavarez Viloria, a Venezuelan immigrant, who was living at the downtown Standard Club migrant shelter, had been arrested by Chicago Police 10 times and was arrested an eleventh time and charged with shoplifting.

Viloria is the least of the dangerous criminals Johnson imported. In 2024, another Venezuelan migrant, Kevin Perez-Paredes, was arrested for gunning down a man in an act that Judge Caroline Glennon-Goodman called an "execution."

CPD reported arresting more than 1,000 Venezuelan migrants in 2024 alone.

It is all so bad, even former Mayor Rahm Emanuel is calling the crime rate in Chicago a "disaster."

Yet, Governor Pritzker opened even more state-sponsored migrant shelters, despite the danger these shelters have brought upon the city.

Even as Johnson recently claimed that the city's finances have reached "the point of no return" unless he gets massive tax hikes, he also continues to spend millions on freebies for illegals.

During the presser, a small group of perhaps 40 protesters gathered outside carrying signs and chanting in protest of Noem’s visit. Signs called ICE agents “fascists” and some signed called to “abolish ICE.”

Police and federal officers kept the protesters distant from the unmarked federal building.

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