JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, has urged the Trump administration to suspend its immigration crackdown in his state from Friday to Sunday, to allow children to “spend Halloween weekend without fear”.
In a letter addressed to the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, and the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Pritzker said federal agents were “ignoring their duty to protect the public and uphold the constitution” by conducting raids and arrests in line with the US president’s mass deportation agenda. The Democrat said such raids had “endangered the lives of innocent community members and traumatized children”.
Pritzker’s letter, which was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times and Politico, came as a federal appeals court blocked an order which would have required a senior border patrol official to give daily briefings to a judge about immigration sweeps in Chicago.
In his appeal, Pritzker noted that border patrol agents reportedly used teargas to disrupt a Halloween parade last weekend. “If this happened as reported, it would have been in direct violation of statements and directives from your administration,” Pritzker said.
The governor wrote: “Illinois families deserve to spend Halloween weekend without fear. No child should be forced to inhale tear gas or other chemical agents while trick or treating in their own neighborhood.”
He added: “Illinois children should not be robbed of their innocence. Let them enjoy a time-honored American tradition safely and peacefully. Please let children be children for one holiday, free from intimidation and fear.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary, later said: “Once again Governor Pritzker is going out of his way to smear the law enforcement officers of DHS, who are attempting to clean up the rampant crime he facilitated. He is pushing a false narrative that DHS is targeting schools, hospitals and churches. This is false, he knows this, but he continues to push these lies.”
She added: “Our officers are facing mass assaults, vehicles used as weapons, violence, and only use crowd control methods as a last resort when repeated warnings have been given. Those who are here legally and are not breaking other laws have nothing to fear.”
ABC News reported that agents from the border patrol, which is increasingly taking on a larger role in Trump’s immigration crackdown, converged at a children’s Halloween parade in Irving Park, in north-west Chicago, last Saturday. ABC said it had reviewed video footage which “showed agents deploying tear gas and tackling and arresting several people, including US citizens, outside homes decked out in Halloween decorations”.
On Wednesday the seventh US circuit court of appeals blocked an order by US district judge Sara Ellis which ordered Gregory Bovino, a senior border patrol official leading the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Chicago, to appear in federal court daily to report on crackdowns and arrests.
In a hearing on Tuesday, Ellis told Bovino: “Kids dressed in Halloween costumes walking to a parade do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer. They just don’t. And you can’t use riot control weapons against them.”
Over the last two months border patrol agents have carried out more arrests in Chicago than ICE, CBS News reported on Wednesday.
The government is falling well short of its targets on immigration. Earlier this year, Stephen Miller – Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff – gave ICE a target of arresting 3,000 people every day. But as of late September, the agency on average was arresting 1,178 daily, NBC reported.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
