Acting Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) chief Mark Morgan bashed the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for instructing its officers to not cooperate with federal immigration agents, declaring that such “politically driven” policy would “create more victims” in the city.
“I’ve been doing law enforcement for a few decades and I can tell you, I’m a lot more than concerned about this politically-driven policy,” said Morgan on Tuesday during an interview with “Fox & Friends.” “What the citizens of Chicago need to understand is this policy is going to create more victims in their city.”
“[Immigration and Customs Enforcement] priorities [are to] go after criminal aliens,” he continued. “This kind of policy would make that harder for ICE to do. That’s outrageous, it’s reckless and lives will be in danger because of this.”
Now in Chicago, whose then-Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, reaffirmed the city’s sanctuary stances following President Donald Trump’s election, police officers are being told not to assist the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with immigration actions, until their supervisor shows up, according to an internal memo obtained by Fox News.
“Effective immediately, a CPD supervisor is required to respond to all requests for assistance from Department of Homeland Security Personnel,” the memo read. “If the request is to assist with an immigration arrest or detention, CPD personnel will leave the scene as directed by the CPD supervisor.”
In response, a DHS spokesperson tweeted Tuesday the federal agency is “deeply concerned” with the “dangerous anti-law enforcement” direction given by the CPD leadership.
“The men and women of ice put their lives on the line everyday to protect the citizens of this country from dangerous criminals,” read the statement, citing a recent arrest of a twice-deported 61-year-old Mexican man, who has a criminal conviction for aggravated sexual abuse. “Under new policy, Chicago leadership thinks this predator should stay in the community.”
“Failing to support fellow law enforcement officers upon request for assistance not only places our heroic police officers in great danger but keeps criminals on the streets and makes all of our communities less safe, specially the great City of Chicago.”
Chicago in 2012 passed the “Welcoming City Ordinance” during Rahm Emanuel’s tenure. The city’s sanctuary ordinance bars CPD officers from giving ICE officials access to people in local custody. It also prohibits law enforcement personnel from inquiring about any individual’s immigration status, or allowing ICE agents to use local police facilities for investigations or interviews.
The relationship between the city’s government and federal immigration authorities continues to go downhill after Mayor Lori Lightfoot assumed office this May. In the wake of mass ICE raids across the country’s major cities earlier this summer, Lightfoot ordered the CPD to deny ICE access to all department databases, reported Chicago Tribunes.
