Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rejected a request from the governor of Illinois to pause immigration enforcement operations during Halloween.
"The fact that Governor Pritzker is asking for that is shameful, and I think unfortunate that he doesn't recognize how important the work is that we do to make sure that we are bringing criminals to justice and bringing them off our streets," she said.
ICE launched its Chicago-area operation dubbed “Midway Blitz” on Sept. 8, drawing pushback from activists and local Democrats, after months of criticism from the Trump administration about Chicago and Illinois over state and local policies that restrict law enforcement cooperation with ICE.
ICE and the administration have said that "sanctuary" policies allow illegal immigrants who have committed crimes in the United States and can be deported to be instead released into the community. Federal agents then have to go out into the community and track them down to remove them, officials said.
Speaking separately in an interview with Fox News on Oct. 30, Noem said that ICE operations will be conducted "on the streets in full force" during Halloween, which she said will "make sure kids are safe."
"Every day in Chicago, we are arresting murderers, child pedophiles, those who have perpetuated assault and pornography against children," she said.
The comments from Noem and Pritzker come as the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals intervened Oct. 29 and blocked an order that required a senior Border Patrol official to give unprecedented daily briefings to a judge about immigration sweeps in Chicago. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis ordered Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino to give briefings to her daily.
President Donald Trump’s administration will remain blocked from deploying troops in the Chicago area until at least the latter half of November, following a U.S. Supreme Court order on Oct. 29 calling on the parties to file additional legal briefs.
Officials said some of the drivers had prior criminal convictions, including driving while under the influence, theft, burglary, assault, child abuse, domestic battery, fraud, and prostitution.
Since taking office in January, Trump has made the mass deportation of illegal immigrants a priority and signed a number of executive orders, including declaring an emergency at the southern border, ending birthright citizenship, and more. Some of the policies are being challenged in court.