It seems likely that Donald Trump will follow through on a plan proposed by ‘border czar’ Tom Homan to begin a large-scale deportation initiative in the city of Chicago, which is governed by Democrats, shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
However, the Windy City isn’t alone, according to a person with knowledge of the plans, as multi-day raids will take place coast-to-coast.
A source revealed to Reuters on Friday that deportation operations will be conducted nationwide, including in cities like New York and Miami.
Chicago appears to be first on the list, having seen more than 50,000 migrants flock to the Windy City since August 2022.
After Trump was elected in November, Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago defended the city’s sanctuary policy by stating that local law enforcement would not cooperate with federal ICE agents.
In December, Homan said that Chicago would be the first city set to expel illegal migrants.
The raid is expected to begin on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Trump’s second inauguration.
ICE will carry out the operation for an entire week and is sending between 100-200 officers to handle the job, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Donald Trump appears set to make good on a promise ‘border czar’ Tom Homan made to start his mass deportation program in Democrat-run Chicago shortly after his inaugurations
A raid is expected to begin on Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after Trump’s second inauguration
It is not yet clear how many people will be targeted but the New York Post has reported that the operation will also extend to the Big Apple as part of multi-day ‘ground operations.’
The Windy City was chosen because of Trump’s back-and-forth with Johnson on the issue and the large number of immigrants they can extract, according to WSJ.
The Trump transition team, ICE, Mayor Johnson and Democrat Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have not commented on the alleged plan.
Homan, 63, the former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term, laid out his plans to remove migrants who illegally crossed the southern border last month.
‘Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks,’ Homan told the crowd at the Northwest Side GOP holiday party where attendees included Pritzker and Johnson.
He went on to call them both ‘terrible,’ while also urging them to follow in the footsteps of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and ‘come to the table’ for discussions, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Homan also warned Johnson, who had vowed to fight the Trump administration’s deportation plan, not to ‘impede’ his efforts.
‘If he doesn’t want to help, get the hell out of the way,’ Homan said.
‘If he knowingly harbors or conceals an illegal alien – I will prosecute him.’
Tom Homan, 63, the former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term, laid out his plans to remove migrants who illegally crossed the southern border
He hit out at Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (left) and Mayor Brandon Johnson (right) for their refusal to help the Trump administration in its deportation effort
Homan went on to explain what Trump’s deportation efforts entail.
Migrants who have committed crimes while in the United States will be the first to be targeted – followed by legal migrants, including asylum seekers and those who entered the US with humanitarian parole under the Biden Administration.
Homan has said he would work on verifying the status of asylum seekers and arrest anyone who is found to be harboring criminal migrants.
He also reiterated that there is no plan in place to separate families, though he suggested ‘it may happen.
‘My goal is to enforce the law, but if you put yourself in that position, it may happen,’ the incoming border czar said. ‘But there’s no plan in this administration right now to separate families.’
‘However, we’re going to enforce the law. So if you put yourself in that position it’s on you,’ he said, declaring that parents of Dreamers – the children of migrants born in the United States – have two options.
‘You can either take a child home with your or they just stay here,’ Homan said. ‘But you don’t get a pass.’
He also said those who do not qualify for asylum through the courts system would be ordered to be deported.
A young child sleeps on the floor of a makeshift shelter operated by the city at O’Hare International Airport
Williany Sanchez, 18, pushes her son Manuel Carvojal, 3, while walking with her husband Danilson Carvojal, 20, outside a migrant shelter on Chicago’s Lower West Side
‘If we don’t, what the hell are we doing? Shut down immigration court?’ he asked, rhetorically.
‘There’s no more consequences. We have to remove them if the law requires.’
Homan then criticized media coverage of Trump’s deportation plan and denied that it was racist.
‘We know exactly who we’re going to arrest,’ he claimed. ‘We know most likely where we’re going to find them. We know a lot about them because of investigative case files.
‘So it’s not a sweep, it’s not an uncontrolled operation. It’s a very targeted operation.’
Governor Pritzker is in discussions with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office to explore what legal resources or staff they will need to challenge Trump’s policies – including his plan to withhold federal grants for police.
He had called any such recourse ‘illegal’ and vowed to take legal action.
‘To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,’ he said following Trump’s electoral victory.
President-elect Donald Trump and wife Melania Trump arrive at the U.S. Capitol on January 8
Border Czar Tom Homan, right, stands with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, left, as he makes statements before serving meals to state troopers and national guardsmen taking part in Operation Lone Star at a facility on the U.S.-Mexico border
‘You come for my people. You come through me.’
But following Homan’s remarks in December, Pritzker took a less combative approach.
‘It’s no secret that Illinois will face countless, baseless attacks over the next four years from the Trump administration,’ spokesman Alex Gough said.
‘Rather than responding to every ridiculous boast from Trump lackeys, Gov. Pritzker is focused on what he was focused on during the first Trump term: leading our state with competence instead of chaos.’
US Rep. Delia Ramirez, a Democrat from Chicago, however, was even more firm
‘Tom Homan, the next time you come to #IL03 – a district made stronger and more powerful by immigrants – you better be ready to meet the resistance,’ she wrote on social media.
