Governor Pritzker Calls for Community Calm Amid Planned ICE Raids During Halloween Weekend

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In Broadview, Illinois, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has declared that immigration enforcement activities will persist in Chicago throughout the Halloween weekend. This decision comes despite a request from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to halt these operations temporarily.

Noem dismissed Pritzker’s appeal, emphasizing that enforcement efforts are primarily aimed at apprehending violent offenders and that suspending operations would only create opportunities for individuals to evade the law.

“We are not prepared to halt any initiatives that ensure community safety,” Noem stated at a Thursday press briefing in Gary, Indiana. “Governor Pritzker’s request is both disappointing and misguided. He fails to acknowledge the critical role our efforts play in bringing offenders to justice.”

Meanwhile, a Chicago judge has directed the Chief of Customs and Border Protection not to use tear gas during Halloween festivities. Governor Pritzker maintains that Illinois families should be able to enjoy the holiday weekend without apprehension.

Volunteers were expected to attend Halloween events in the city to alert residents to the presence of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE high-speed chase ends at high school

In a separate incident, an ICE-involved high-speed chase ended at a high school in the Chicago suburb of Gurnee, where two suspects with violent criminal histories were taken into custody.

DHS said agents do not target schools but will act when public safety is at risk.

“These two criminal illegal aliens recklessly endangered the public by starting a highspeed car chase and then driving onto school grounds, possibly to seek protection since they are “ICE Free Zones,” DHS said in a statement obtained by affiliate WGN. “Border Patrol does not conduct enforcements near schools but will not allow criminal illegal aliens to put the public in harm’s way.”

DHS releases new video of Halloween parade operation

The tension follows a recent DHS operation in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood, where agents used tear gas and made arrests as families walked to a nearby Halloween parade last weekend.

A federal judge who limited the agency’s use of force said the incident likely “shattered” children’s sense of safety.

The agency argued agents were boxed in by a group of agitators who ignored multiple warnings to back up, adding that the operation resulted in the arrest of a man from Mexico in the country illegally.

Pentagon orders ‘quick reaction force’

The Pentagon has ordered the National Guard to form a “quick reaction force” of roughly 23,500 troops trained in crowd control and urban response, according to a leaked memo reported by multiple outlets on Wednesday.

The memo orders the Guard from nearly every U.S. state, plus Puerto Rico and Guam, to train 500 service members on crowd control, shields, batons and rapid urban deployment. States with smaller populations, such as Delaware, will have 250 troops in their forces, while Alaska will have 350, and Guam will have 100, Task & Purpose reported.

That plan could allow federal reinforcements to move quickly if unrest breaks out, for example, near an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, the site of multiple protests in recent weeks. Pritzker has previously called such federal deployments unconstitutional, which could spark another fight.