Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.) on CNN's “State of the Union” on Sunday told the Trump administration that local law enforcement is targeting “law-abiding, illegally present people” who are facing deportation. I will stand up for you,” he warned.
Host Dana Bash said, “How do you prepare, especially if schools, churches, and small businesses are targeted, as is currently allowed?”
“First of all, let's be clear: When we're talking about convicted violent criminals who are in the country illegally, we don't want them in our state. We don't want them in our state,” Pritzker said. We want them out of the country. We want them to be deported. And if that's who they're picking up. I support all of that. They show up with warrants, and we're going to extradite people who are in jail or fit that description. Now, what they're doing is very alarming. But it's about following people who are law abiding, who keep their jobs in check, who have families here, who may have lived here for 10 or 20 years. , and they are often our neighbors and our friends. And why do we go after them? They are not the people who are causing problems in our country. , giving them a path to citizenship. We need to secure our borders. We need to get rid of violent criminals, but we're just doing what we expect from immigrants. We also need to protect people, at least residents of Illinois and across the country.
He added, “Illinois has laws in place that state that local law enforcement will abide by the law and defend those who are in the state illegally and are doing the right thing. , we're not going to help federal agents just drag them out because someone points at them and says, oh, that person is brown, that person is not from here. Please. Maybe they're not documented.”
Follow Pam Key on X @pamkeyNEN
