Gov JB Pritzker on Wednesday said he would be willing to speak with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar to discuss his mass deportation plan, but questioned whether Tom Homan has the legal “authority” to execute Trump’s broad initiative.
The Democratic governor’s comments at an unrelated Chicago news conference came two days after Homan ripped into Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson at a Northwest Side political fundraiser, declaring Chicago would be ground zero for his plan.
“ At some point, he’s going to become a part of the Trump administration and so, I’m open to dialogue with him,” Pritzker said. “I will say that he … does not have the authority to do the things that he’s talked about. Being a border czar is not an official position in the government and will be up to the President of the United States and up to the leaders of the Customs and Border patrol to make decisions about how we’ll manage the border.”
Homan, the former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term, threatened to arrest people who are found with the undocumented criminals he is targeting. And though he reiterated that there was no plan to separate families, he said “it may happen.”
Speaking on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Trump said that ICE would be “starting with the criminals.” It’s unclear whether that means trying to pick up migrants or undocumented criminals in prisons and jails — or within communities. But the first Trump administration struggled with cooperation from legal authorities in sanctuary states.
Pritzker said he would cooperate with authorities to help find the “violent criminals” that the Trump administration is targeting, but vowed to protect the state’s documented immigrants, migrants and immigrants lacking legal status, who have protections under state law.
“They’ve tried very hard to become documented, to use the levers that are available..but they’re here and they’re holding down jobs and they’re paying taxes that they don’t get benefits from,” Pritzker said of immigrants lacking legal status. “And I believe it’s my obligation to protect them too. Those are residents of the state of Illinois.”
The governor, however, expressed concern that laws on the books, including one making Illinois a sanctuary state, won’t be adhered to under a second Trump administration.
“I’m proud of those laws in the state of Illinois. I’m proud of those laws that protect people who are undocumented here that, by the way, protect those who are migrants and those who are documented immigrants too,” Pritzker said. “But we have laws that protect undocumented immigrants, and I’m going to make sure to follow the law. I’m concerned that the Trump administration and his lackeys aren’t going to follow the law, but I will.”
Pritzker also said he would block the Illinois National Guard from being deployed to assist with any mass deportations.
“I think that’s un-American. I think calling out the National Guard to be engaged in, you know, this endeavor is something that should be Customs and Border Patrol, if they want to be involved,” Pritzker said. “… But the civilian, the military, part-time military that are part of the Illinois National Guard didn’t join so they could essentially go to war in another state.”
Pritzker’s comments came as he signed an executive order that will create a new Illinois Director of Housing Solutions to combat the state’s housing crises and increase the number of middle-class homes and rental options across the state.
The order will also relaunch the SmartBuy program, which offers a 30-year fixed rate first mortgage with $5,000 in deferred down payment and closing cost assistance. The program will also provide up to $40,000 in student loan relief to borrowers buying a home in Illinois.