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Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ferguson prepares for possibility of Trump deploying troops in Washington
The National Guard and police confront protesters following three days of clashes after a series of immigration raids on June 09, 2025, in Los Angeles. Tensions in the city remained high after the Trump administration called in the National Guard against the wishes of city leaders. (Photo by) Washington leaders have been preparing for months for the possibility of President Donald Trump mobilizing the military against the governor's wishes, as he did over the weekend in response to protests in California. Gov. Bob Ferguson called a meeting Tuesday afternoon with the state's top military official about what's going on in Los Angeles, where Trump summoned thousands of National Guard troops in response to protests over immigration enforcement. Trump's move was the first time in 60 years that a president had deployed the National Guard to a state without the governor's consent. 'It's deeply disturbing. He's escalating the situation, it's resulting in more violence because of the president's calling in the National Guard over the governor's objection, and that's exactly what Donald Trump wants,' Ferguson said Tuesday. 'My job as governor is to make sure we're as prepared as we possibly can be here.' Trump says this action was necessary to protect U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents and the broader public amid demonstrations that have damaged property. California officials countered that local law enforcement could handle it. California is suing the administration, which has since also sent Marines to Los Angeles, over the National Guard deployment. State officials there say the president is violating the 10th Amendment that protects state sovereignty. Trump has cited federal law allowing the president to call out National Guard troops if 'there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' The statute also allows for deployments in the case of foreign invasion or if 'the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.' Democratic officials across the country worry the situation in Los Angeles could be a test run for similar moves in their states and cities. Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown, both of whom are Democrats, told the Standard on Tuesday that the president's actions haven't come as a surprise. In fact, they've been playing out this scenario since shortly after they both won election in November. Trump has previously floated the idea of using the military to curb civil unrest. And, during his first term, National Guard troops from multiple states deployed as part of the federal response to 2020 protests in Washington, D.C. Brown noted the law the president cites for the California deployment says such orders 'shall be issued' by the governor. And the situation in California doesn't meet any of the three circumstances where a National Guard deployment would be lawful, he said. 'If the facts arose here that were the same as California, it would be illegal,' Brown said. He didn't rule out a circumstance where the president could have the state's consent to deploy the Guard. 'I don't want to presuppose that we would challenge everything, because it really depends on what the facts are,' he said. A state Military Department spokesperson agreed it's hard for the state to plan for the unknown. 'I wish we could see the future and develop concrete plans and tell you what we're planning for,' Karina Shagren said Tuesday. Across the country, organizers are planning 'No Kings' protests against Trump this Saturday, including in Seattle, Olympia and elsewhere in the state. The protests will coincide with the president's scheduled military parade in Washington, D.C. Seattle has a long history of massive street protests that have crossed over from civil disobedience to property destruction and resulted in force from police, including in response to a World Trade Organization conference in 1999 and the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Brown emphasized he doesn't want protesters acting out violently and 'playing into the hands of the Trump administration.' 'We love to protest here, obviously, which is great, but we have to do it in accordance with our laws,' the attorney general said. In February, Ferguson's top aides had debated sending 200 troops from the state's National Guard to the Canadian border to combat drug trafficking — and get ahead of the president potentially federalizing the Guard. State Adjutant General Gent Welsh, with whom Ferguson was meeting Tuesday, floated the idea. The Military Department went so far as to draft a letter pitching it from the governor to the Trump administration. But Ferguson ultimately decided not to move forward. Welsh commands the state's National Guard, directs the Washington Military Department and serves as the governor's homeland security advisor. The governor championed a bill this legislative session to give him authority to limit National Guard troops from other states from entering Washington, after Republican governors offered their troops to support Trump's immigration crackdown. He signed the bill in April, and it went into effect immediately. Meanwhile, Ferguson on Friday ordered a handful of state National Guard personnel to assist in the search for Travis Decker, a man accused of killing his three young daughters near Leavenworth.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Afternoon Briefing: Prime Healthcare cutting 100 jobs across Illinois facilities
Good afternoon, Chicago. Chicago is responding to President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration raids with protests that began yesterday. Two more are planned for tonight and tomorrow nights. Tonight's protest is to be held in front of the Chicago Police Department headquarters to denounce alleged cooperation of Chicago police with federal agents arrests last week as they detained immigrants outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office on the Near South Side. The Police Department has denied that officers aided the federal agents. Here's what we know about the protests. And here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History Figuring out what went wrong at Lion Electric is crucial not just for former employees, but also for politicians, corporate leaders and environmentalists who want Illinois to build more battery-powered vehicles and protect future generations from increasingly toxic air. Read more here. More top news stories: Official leaving Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration for Obama Foundation Aqua Illinois warns University Park, other communities of tap water risk for infants Prime hired 13,000 workers from Ascension when it bought the hospitals from that health system, and has created nearly 1,000 new jobs since the acquisition. Read more here. More top business stories: Bears player D.J. Moore sells Lincolnshire condo for $870,000 Warner Bros. Discovery to split into two companies, dividing cable and streaming services Some good-natured bantering occurred over the weekend between Cubs president Jed Hoyer and Detroit Tigers president Scott Harris, who worked his way up the ladder after joining the Cubs as director of baseball operations in 2012 under Hoyer and former president Theo Epstein. Read more here. More top sports stories: Late-game production and Tyler Alexander's wild journey: 3 takeaways from Chicago White Sox's series win Green Bay Packers plan to release veteran cornerback Jaire Alexander In Chicago, the dish is a ritual. It's dramatic, it's delicious, and — let's be honest — it's also a little absurd in the best possible way. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: Whose libretto is it, anyway? Chicago opera company takes on improv Review: 'She Who Dared' lovingly fact-checks civil rights history President Donald Trump has deployed at least 300 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests, over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Read more here. More top stories from around the world: California governor plans to file lawsuit against Trump over National Guard deployment to protests Judge dismisses Justin Baldoni's $400M countersuit against Blake Lively
Chicago Tribune
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
The Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz for June 7
Happy June, quotes readers! It was a tense and smoggy week in Chicago. Immigration advocates were alerted Wednesday of people being detained at a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office on the Near South Side. Organizers and several aldermen went to protest, and several of them clashed with federal agents. Now, City Council members plan to have a hearing to look into the Chicago Police Department's response to the demonstration. Local immigration advocates also plan to challenge President Donald Trump's travel ban that bars or restricts travelers from 19 countries. The U.S. president spoke with several world leaders this week. After a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump said the two countries will continue their trade talks. During their phone call Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the president that he would respond to Ukraine's recent drone attacks on a Russian airfield. And in a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump suggested that pursuing peace in eastern Europe is not the best path forward right now. Amidst all of this, the relationship between the president and his former close adviser Elon Musk came to a bitter end as the two exchanged harsh words on social media, and Trump threatened to cut Starlink and SpaceX's government contracts. The Trump administration is also investigating former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen to sign pardons and other documents. Meanwhile in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed aldermen to add a city grocery tax as the long-established state grocery levy expires. A jury found Crosetti Brand guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of Jayden Perkins, the 11-year-old killed in a brutal 2024 attack as he tried to protect his pregnant mother. And Chicago police determined that Officer Krystal Rivera, a mother and four-year veteran of the force, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow cop during a confrontation with an armed suspect Thursday in the Chatham neighborhood. In Springfield, Illinois lawmakers voted to pass the state budget. The $55 billion spending plan was balanced with a combination of spending cuts and an estimated $800 million in tax increases, including hikes on tobacco products, vaping and online sportsbooks. The passage of the budget closed out a legislative session with mixed results for Gov. JB Pritzker. Jerry Reinsdorf is selling the Chicago White Sox — just not this year. On Thursday, the team announced Reinsdorf and billionaire Justin Ishbia reached a long-term investment agreement for Ishbia to obtain a controlling interest in the team by 2029 at the earliest. In other sports news, the Chicago Fire are privately financing a $650 million soccer stadium at The 78, the Chicago Sports Network is finally broadcasting on Comcast and the Chicago Sky are taking on the Indiana Fever this weekend in the first professional women's basketball game played at the United Center. But fans hoping to catch another matchup between Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark will have to wait: The 2024 WNBA rookie of the year is out for a quadriceps strain. Though the forecast looks nice, you may consider spending some time indoors this weekend. Smoke from Canadian wildfires is blanketing Chicago, with the city's air quality at times ranked the worst in the U.S. That's it for the news! Test your knowledge of who said what with the Tribune's Quotes of the Week quiz from June 1 to 7. Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.
Chicago Tribune
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Local officials, protesters clash with ICE outside office over detentions in growing escalation over Trump's immigration tactics
In another sign of escalating tension over President Donald Trump's immigration policies, community organizers, protesters and several Chicago aldermen clashed with federal agents Wednesday as they detained immigrants outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office on the Near South Side. The office in the 2200 block of South Michigan Avenue operates the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, or ISAP, which is run by ICE. The program utilizes technology, such as ankle monitors, as an alternative to detention, providing enhanced supervision for individuals in immigration proceedings who haven't been detained. Organizers were first alerted of ICE activity when Yolanda Chavez, a member of Organized Communities Against Deportations, went into the office for a check-in Wednesday morning and didn't come out for hours. The organization quickly mobilized supporters outside, said Antonio Gutierrez, president of the is from Honduras and has been in the United States for 10 years, Gutierrez said. She has a child and was in asylum proceedings, he added. Gutierrez hasn't heard from her since she went in.'This is only the beginning,' he Wednesday afternoon, elected officials, including Aldermen Anthony Quezada, 35th, Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, and Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd, joined the growing number of people. Quezada and Rodriguez-Sanchez sat down in front of a white van as it attempted to enter the office parking lot. The vans drove away, and then federal immigration officers wearing sunglasses and face coverings suddenly arrived in a large group and began to jostle and push the approximately 30 people who were there. Sigcho-Lopez told the Tribune that he, Rodriguez-Sanchez and Quezada were attempting to form a human chain as federal agents entered the building and pushed Quezada to the ground. 'We were trying to hold arms,' Sigcho-Lopez said. 'These ICE agents came in with batons, and they came hard. They stomped into the building, they shoved Alderman Quezada to the ground, pushed the rest of us, stepped on everybody, threatened everybody. This is the Gestapo.' Sigcho-Lopez said he saw Quezada 'shaking' afterward, and Rodriguez-Sanchez texted the Tribune that she was 'bruised but okay' after being 'thrown around a lot.' 'This is a really sad day for the city. We will not allow this to happen again,' Sigcho-Lopez said. Police were notified of the growing protest and showed up at the scene to 'ensure the safety of all involved, including those exercising their First Amendment rights,' said Tom Ahern, a Chicago police spokesman. No arrests were made, police clash between Chicago community members and federal immigration agents is representative of a growing wave of grassroots resistance and pro-immigrant groups that are challenging ICE operations across the country. Residents and advocates are mobilizing rapidly to report ICE sightings, disrupt arrests and show up in force at immigration court did not say how many people were detained Wednesday. The city and organizations that work against federal deportation efforts estimated the number to be more than 10, with whom they have lost contact. 'Those arrested had executable final orders of removal by an immigration judge and had not complied with that order,' an ICE spokesman said in a statement. Clashes between ICE and protesters erupted in San Diego last week and in Minneapolis this week, when residents learned that ICE agents were conducting raids at local restaurants. In May, protests erupted outside immigration courts in San Francisco, New York and Arizona when advocates learned ICE would be detaining certain migrants after their hearings. On Michigan Avenue on Wednesday, after ICE officials got into shiny black SUVs and trucks and drove away, Gerardo Perez, 23, stood outside the office with his family. His mother was taken, he said. They live in Rogers Park, and he has six siblings. She had been here for close to 40 years.'It's just an act of racism,' he said as he got into a car. 'This is nobody's land.' 'They are destroying families because they know they can,' said Rodriguez-Sanchez, 33rd, at a hastily organized news conference afterward. 'This is a moment of solidarity. ' The more recent aggressive tactics from ICE have had a chilling effect across Chicago, with people opting out of work, church services, doctor appointments and school. Now, immigration attorneys and advocates are reporting that people aren't showing up for court hearings. Lawyers said the Trump administration appears to be coordinating efforts to dismiss cases of individuals in the U.S. who have been in the country for less than two years, so that federal agents can immediately detain them, potentially for an expedited removal order. Immigration officials confirmed to the Tribune that Chicago's courtrooms will also be an epicenter for the detentions. 'Most aliens who illegally entered the United States within the past two years are subject to expedited removals,' a statement from Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Kristi Noem said. 'ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been.' That means that, as attorneys and advocates suspected, ICE agents will be targeting migrants who have been in the country less than two years by dismissing their case during the hearing and arresting them afterward. Unless migrants have 'a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings,' the DHS statement says. 'But if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.' According to immigration experts and lawyers in the Chicago area, the move is another strategy to limit the migrants' ability to present their case before a judge, forcing them to leave the country instead. Reports of arrests in Chicago's immigration court surfaced in mid-May when several attorneys reported seeing ICE agents roaming the courtrooms with a list in hand, followed by a series of arrests. 'For many families trying to 'do it the legal way' and dutifully attending their court dates, they expect a normal check-in that brings them closer to stability. Instead, Trump and Noem are weaponizing a moment of hopeful anticipation to terrorize our communities further. Their vile actions show just how little they respect our courts, due process, our rights, and laws,' said U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, who sent a letter to ICE demanding answers about the arrest made at Chicago's immigration courts. Ramirez also urged other members of Congress to to demand answers from the administration. Because of the lack of transparency from DHS and other immigration agencies, attorneys can offer limited help, depending on people's cases, said Azadeh Erfani, policy director of the National Immigrant Justice Center. 'They are boxing them in: you will get deported if you show up to your hearing as mandated by law, but you will also get deported if you don't show up to your hearing,' said Erendira Rendon, vice president of immigrant justice at the Resurrection Project, a nonprofit organization that provides legal services to immigrants in need. Over the last week, reports of ICE agents in some of Chicago's predominantly Latino neighborhoods spread rapidly. When neighbors noticed unfamiliar cars on the corner of Troy and 27th streets, in Little Village at around 8 a.m. Tuesday, they quickly contacted their local rapid response team and their aldermen, who confirmed they were ICE agents. Members of the rapid response team, including members of La Villita Se Defiende, which is made up of area residents, approached the agents and patrolled the area until the agents left without making any arrests, according to officials. '(The terrorizing of ICE in our communities) needs to stop, but I fear it won't,' said Ald. Mike Rodriguez, 25th Ward. 'We need to work like hell to protect people and to resist until we get this person (Trump) out of office.' Though the sighting of ICE were just outside his ward, Rodriguez said his office is vigilant and ready to respond when they are notified of immigration officials in the neighborhood 'to make sure people's rights are preserved.' In a Wednesday evening statement, Mayor Brandon Johnson said his office is 'reviewing' the clash, which he described as an 'assault' by federal authorities. 'Mayor Johnson condemns the reckless and dangerous escalation by ICE agents this afternoon in the South Loop,' he wrote. 'Chicagoans have the right to protest the separation of family members by federal immigration enforcement. Federal agents should never be allowed to come into our city and assault elected officials or any Chicagoan.' In Pilsen, however, the community remains alert after ICE, in conjunction with the FBI, arrested two residents who work at a local business near the 1800 block of South Carpenter Street. In both instances, the agents failed to properly identify themselves or present arrest warrants, according to Sigcho Lopez and local rapid response teams. The Pilsen Migra Watch team reported that one of the arrests took place in the private residential area above the local business, which federal agents are not allowed to enter without a warrant signed by a judge.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Puppy-Killer Noem Trolled Over Latest ICE ‘Publicity Stunt'
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday made it clear that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is not welcome in his state. The comments, in which he mocked Noem's admitted dog-killing ways, came after she slammed the state's sanctuary status in a press conference. The enactment of Illinois' TRUST Act, the Way Forward Act, the Welcoming City Act, and a Cook County ordinance, limits how local authorities can aid U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents in federal immigration enforcement actions. Noem claimed that 'people are dying every day' because of such policies. 'People are evading justice,' Noem said during the conference, which was held near a street corner in downtown Springfield, reported the Chicago Tribune. Noem further alleged that Pritzker was 'violating the Constitution' by not cooperating with the federal government. 'Governors like JB Pritzker don't care if gangbangers, murderers, rapists and pedophiles roam free in his state,' she said. Gov. JB Pritzker is a battle-tested Democrat known for his thick skin and bloated bank account. / Chicago Tribune / TNS However, Pritzker wasted no time throwing such allegations back in her face. Ahead of her visit, Pritzker mocked Noem's dog-killing ways in a statement urging 'all pet owners in the region to make sure all of your beloved animals are under watchful protection.' The statement added, 'Despite the Trump Administration being in office for more than 100 days and falsely accusing Illinois of not following federal and state law, Secretary Noem and her team does not communicate with the State of Illinois and has not asked for support or coordination to enforce immigration laws,' Pritzker followed the press conference with another statement skewering Noem's actions as attention-seeking, The Hill reported. 'Trump-Noem publicity stunts do not make our communities safer or our immigration system smarter. Illinois doesn't need to abuse power or ignore the Constitution to keep our people safe,' said Pritzker. 'Like the millions of Americans asking for sensible, humane immigration reform, I encourage the Secretary to spend less time performing for Fox News and more time protecting the Homeland.' Noem's press conference came as her 'real ID' deadline went into effect, requiring travelers to have a state-issued driver's license or ID card meeting security requirements. But many travelers reported that the enforcement appeared to be mostly superficial. In Illinois, Pritzker also reminded Noem that she was visiting the state during Latino Unity Day. 'Secretary Noem must have not realized she was visiting during Latino Unity Day where we come together celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of our community,' Pritzker said. 'Today, Secretary Noem was met by a force stronger than her: the people of Illinois.'
