White House border czar Tom Homan confirmed on Sunday that federal immigration agents will “absolutely” descend on Chicago this week, as leaders at the local, state and national levels condemn the Trump administration’s threats and lies while preparing to protect the city’s vulnerable communities.
President Donald Trump and his allies have increasingly threatened to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and National Guard troops to the city under the guise of increasing public safety, using dehumanizing rhetoric to describe undocumented immigrants and spewing lies about Chicago’s crime levels.
Despite a California judge ruling that it would be illegal for Trump to send federal troops to allegedly fight crime in cities, Chicago officials anticipate that efforts to occupy the city would begin any day now ― a rumor that Homan confirmed while speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“Absolutely, you can expect action in most sanctuary cities across the country,” the Trump ally said. “President Trump has prioritized sanctuary cities because sanctuary cities knowingly release illegal alien public safety threats to the streets every day. That’s where the problem is.”
Trump’s efforts have faced extreme Democratic backlash from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, as well as Illinois lawmakers like Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, and Reps. Chuy Garcia and Delia Ramirez. Despite Homan’s claims otherwise, the politicians maintain that the administration has not contacted them or answered their many questions about the operation.
In response, Trump posted an AI-generated image to Truth Social on Saturday showing helicopters flying over a burning Chicago as the president poses next to text reading, “Chipocalypse Now.”
“‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning…,’” the president wrote above the image. “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”
Duckworth told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Trump “essentially just declared war on a major city in his own nation” with his Saturday post. Johnson called the president’s threats “beneath the honor of our nation,” and said the city must protect each other and Chicago from autocratic efforts.
“The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal,” Pritzker posted on X. “Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.”
Asked about his post, Trump said on Sunday that he’s “not going to war, we’re going to clean up our cities.”
Both Trump and Homan have repeatedly painted Chicago as crime-ridden and its Democratic leaders as incapable of handling threats to public safety. But data from both the FBI and Chicago police show that 22 major cities had higher homicide rates than Chicago last year. According to a WBEZ analysis, the city in fact recorded the fewest murders during the summer this year since 1965, with a major decrease in homicides and overall violent crime staying near its lowest point in at least four decades.
Despite anxiety in Chicago’s large Latino community and neighborhoods ― and as the city gears up for its Mexican Independence Day celebrations ― thousands of peaceful protesters marched on Saturday against Trump’s threats of federal occupation. Community leaders have also worked to educate immigrants on their rights, and allies on how to protect their neighbors.