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Trump Border Czar Defends Hefty Immigration Plan Pricetag

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

Incoming Trump administration border czarย Tom Homanย told NewsNationโ€™sย Ali Bradleyย there is no โ€œprice tagโ€ for theย mass deportationsย planned by the incoming administration

โ€œWhat price do you put on national security? I donโ€™t think it has a price tag,โ€ Homan said. โ€œWhat price do you put on the thousands of American moms and dads who buried their children? You want to talk about family separation; they buried their children because their children were murdered by illegal aliens that werenโ€™t supposed to be here. I donโ€™t put a price on that. I donโ€™t put a price on national security. I donโ€™t put a price on American lives.โ€

Homan further defended the mass deportationsโ€™ $86 billion price tag, saying it would save American taxpayers money in the future.

โ€œThis operation would be expensive,โ€ he acknowledged. โ€œHowever, itโ€™s going to save taxpayers a lot of money in the long run. Right now, weโ€™re spending billions of dollars on free airline tickets, free hotel rooms, free medical care, free meals, the education system.โ€

Homan, however, said they will also need help from Congress.

โ€œWe need more resources; we need funding. We obviously need to buy more detention beds because everybody we arrest, we have to detain to work on those removal efforts and get travel documents, get flight arrangements. So we need more detention beds,โ€ said Homan.

Homan said the Trump administration doesnโ€™t plan on separating families but rather deporting them together. He said the administration is looking into using halfway houses to hold U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants.

โ€œAs far as U.S. children, thatโ€™s going to be a difficult situation because weโ€™re not going to change your U.S. citizenship,โ€ he said. โ€œWhich means theyโ€™re going to be put in a halfway house or they can stay at home and wait for the officers to get the travel arrangements and come back and get the family. You know the best thing to do for a family is to self-deport themselves.โ€

Trump Officially Deports Migrant Influencer

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Image via Pixabay

President Trump has ensured anย illegal immigrantย from Venezuela who garnered a massive online following by posting videos of him flashing stacks of cash and urging migrants to “invade” American homes and take them over under squatters’ rights laws has been deported.

Leonel Moreno, 26, told his audience he planned to make a business out of his scams.

“He has been deported,” the Trump administration announced Friday on its @RapidResponse47 X account.

In his videos, he mocked U.S. taxpayers and even other immigrants who work for a living, alternately waving stacks of hundred-dollar bills, crying, singing or posing with an infant with mucus running out of his nose.

“I didn’t cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave,” Moreno said in Spanish, according to a translation of his videos. “I came to the U.S. to mark my territory.”

He bragged about raking in cash via TikTok as well as entitlement payments from U.S. taxpayers. He claimed that his family had received $350 a week in government handouts since entering the U.S. illegally and that at one point he was raking in as much as $1,000 a week with his viral videos.

“You’re hurt because I make more than you without much work while you work like slaves, understand?” he said in one of his videos. “That’s the difference between you and me. I’m always going to make lots of money without much work, and you’re always going to be exploited and miserable and insignificant.”

TikTok eventually shut down his account, which had amassed about 500,000 followers.

ICE picked him up after his online profile exploded, but he spent months in custody under theย Biden administration.ย 

Democrat Files Articles Of Impeachment Against Kristi Noem

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Ted Eytan from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

On Wednesday, Rep.ย Robin Kellyย (D-Ill.) introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretaryย Kristi Noem.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Kelly outlined three impeachment articles against the secretary, accusing Noem of obstruction of Congress, โ€œviolation of public trustโ€ and โ€œself-dealing.โ€

โ€œSecretary Noem has brought her reign of terror to the Chicagoland area, L.A., New Orleans, Charlotte, Durham, and communities north to south to east to west,โ€ Kelly said at the press conference. โ€œShe needs to be held accountable for her actions.โ€

The Hill reports:

The first impeachment article alleges Noem denied Kelly and other members of Congress โ€œoversight of ICE detention facilities,โ€ the congresswoman said at her presser.

Kelly explained the second article, which accuses Noem of violating public trust, by saying Noem โ€œdirected DHS agents to arrest people without warrants, use tear gas against citizens, and ignore due process.โ€

Kelly said Noem frequently says โ€œsheโ€™s taking murderers and rapists off our streets, but none of the 614 people arrested during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago has been charged or convicted of murder or rape.โ€

On the third impeachment article, which accuses the secretary of self-dealing, Kelly said Noem โ€œabused her power for personal benefit,โ€ and โ€œsteered a federal contract to a new firm run by a friend.โ€

Kelly announced her intention to file the impeachment articles last week, after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis.

Jonathan Ross, ICE agent whoย shot Goodย in her car last week in Minneapolis, experienced internal bleeding as a result of the encounter, officials claim.

In video shot by an eyewitness, Ross and other ICE agents were seen approaching Goodโ€™s red Honda Pilot as she blocked a road during an ICE operation. When one of the agents ordered Good to โ€œget out of the f*cking carโ€ and stuck his hands in the vehicle, she tried to drive off. Thatโ€™s when Ross, who was in front of the car, fired off three shots. Good was pronounced dead a short time later.

The Trump administration has argued that the shooting was justified as self-defense, going so far as to call Good a โ€œderanged leftistโ€ and โ€œdomestic terroristโ€ who was looking to harm federal agents.

Video shows Ross walking away on his own after firing the fatal shots. Noemย said at the timeย that he was hospitalized, but she did not specify his injuries.

The congresswoman said that as of Wednesday morning the measure has the support of almost 70 members of Congress.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brushed off the impeachment effort as โ€œsilly.โ€

โ€œHow silly during a serious time. As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district,โ€ the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to The Hill.

โ€œWe hope she would get serious about doing her job to protect American people, which is what this Department is doing under Secretary Noem.โ€

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Trump Signals Support For Legal Protections For Longtime Migrant Workers

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Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

DES MOINES, Iowa โ€” Speaking at the Iowa State Fairgrounds hours before Independence Day, President Donald Trump said he is drafting legislation to shield long-serving farm and hospitality workers from immigration enforcement actions.

โ€œWeโ€™re working on legislation right now,โ€ Trump told the crowd. โ€œFarmers, look, they know better. They work with them for years.โ€

He referenced cases where immigrant workers had been employed for over a decade before being removed through federal action.

โ€œYou had cases… where people have worked for a farm for 14, 15 years, and they get thrown out pretty viciously. And we canโ€™t do it,โ€ Trump said.

The remarks appear to address the impact of immigration raids, such as those reported at California farms, where labor shortages have followed large-scale enforcement. A significant portion of that workforce is made up of illegal immigrants.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who was present on stage, had initially raised the issue.

After weeks of back-and-forth, Trump ultimately echoed her stance on Thursday night โ€” arguing that those in agriculture and hospitality deserve more authority over who they employ. โ€œWeโ€™re going to work with them, and weโ€™re going to work very strong and smart,โ€ he said. โ€œWeโ€™re going to put you in charge. Weโ€™re going to make you responsible. And I think thatโ€™s going to make a lot of people happy.โ€

Acknowledging that the proposal may not sit well with his partyโ€™s immigration hardliners, Trump added: โ€œradical right people, who I also happen to like a lot, they may not be quite as happy. But theyโ€™ll understand, wonโ€™t they?โ€

He then turned to Rollins and said, โ€œDo you think theyโ€™ll understand that youโ€™re the one that brought this whole situation up?โ€

The comments signal a more pragmatic tone on immigration from the president, who has long emphasized enforcement but now appears open to reforms aimed at stabilizing the labor force in key sectors.

Report: Noem Demanded Hours-long Meeting With Trump After Sheโ€™s Sidelined

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By The White House - https://www.flickr.com/photos/202101414@N05/54581054338/, Public Domain,

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem requested a two-hour meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office late Monday as the administration faced intensifying backlash over a deadly shooting in Minneapolis involving federal immigration agents.

The meeting came after President Trump announced that longtime border enforcement official Tom Homan would travel to Minneapolis to take charge of Department of Homeland Security efforts following the death of protester Alex Pretti during a confrontation with Border Patrol agents, according to the New York Times.

The closed-door discussion, which included several of the presidentโ€™s top aides, reflected the administrationโ€™s effort to recalibrate its response as tensions mounted across the city and criticism grew over how the incident was initially described.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem receives a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center CECOT with the Minister of Justice and Public Security Gustavo Villatoro in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 26, 2025. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)

Noem came under fire after she labeled Pretti a โ€œdomestic terrorist,โ€ saying he had charged officers while brandishing a gun. However, multiple videos circulating online showed the ICU nurse holding a cellphone and attempting to flee from agents at the time of the encounter.

The administration has since faced pressure to clarify its messaging, particularly as images and video from the scene fueled protests and intensified scrutiny of federal enforcement tactics in Democrat-run cities already resistant to immigration crackdowns.

Earlier Monday, Trump said he was sending Homan โ€” a well-known hardliner on border enforcement โ€” to oversee the situation on the ground. The move sparked questions about whether the president was dissatisfied with Noemโ€™s handling of the fallout.

Despite the speculation, Trump did not indicate that Noemโ€™s job was in jeopardy during the meeting, sources told the outlet.

Separately, Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and some of his agents were ordered Monday to begin pulling back from Minnesota, according to sources.

Bovino, like Noem, drew criticism for his initial assessment of the incident. He had said Pretti was brandishing a firearm and โ€œwanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,โ€ a claim later challenged by video evidence.

Amid reports suggesting internal consequences, the Trump administration pushed back against claims that Bovino had been demoted.

โ€œChief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties,โ€ DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X. She added that Bovino remains a โ€œkey part of the presidentโ€™s team and a great American.โ€

Republican Warns Stephen Miller Will Cost GOP Midterms

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Florida state Sen. Ileana Garcia (R), a longtime supporter of former President Trump and co-founder of Latinas for Trump, is publicly criticizing the tone and tactics surrounding the administrationโ€™s latest immigration crackdownโ€”warning that internal divisions and inflammatory rhetoric could cost Republicans in the midterms.

โ€œI do think that he will lose the midterms because of Stephen Miller,โ€ Garcia told The New York Times in an interview published Tuesday, referring to Trumpโ€™s White House deputy chief of staff and one of the architects of the administrationโ€™s hard-line immigration strategy.

Garcia, who has consistently supported strong border enforcement and backed Trumpโ€™s efforts to regain control of the southern border, stressed that her concern is not with securing the border itself, but with how the policy is being communicated and executed. She placed particular blame on Miller for what she described as unnecessarily aggressive rhetoric that risks alienating persuadable votersโ€”including Hispanic Republicans who favor border security but reject what they see as dehumanizing language.

The comments follow a volatile weekend in Minneapolis, where federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti during a protest tied to the administrationโ€™s immigration actions. The incident came just weeks after another fatal shooting involving federal authorities in the same city, when ICE officers shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good earlier this month.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti โ€œattackedโ€ federal law enforcement officers, while Miller went further, describing Pretti as โ€œa would-be assassinโ€ who โ€œtried to murder federal law enforcement.โ€

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later sought to distance President Trump from Millerโ€™s remarks, telling reporters Monday that she had not heard the president โ€œcharacterize Mr. Pretti in that wayโ€ and emphasizing that the incident remains under investigation.

Garcia pushed back sharply on Millerโ€™s framing in a post Monday on X.

โ€œDistorting, politicizing, slandering โ€“ justifying what happened to Alex Pretti contradicts the American values the administration campaigned on. He was neither a domestic terrorist nor an assassin,โ€ Garcia wrote.

โ€œAllowing individuals like Stephen Miller, among others, who represent the government and make hard-line decisions, to make such comments will have long-term consequences. โ€ฆ This is not what I voted for!โ€ she added.

Garciaโ€™s criticism carries weight within Republican circles. She helped rally Latina voters for Trump during his 2016 campaign and later served in the Department of Homeland Security during his first term. While she has consistently supported deportations of criminal illegal immigrants and stronger border controls, she has previously warned against what she called โ€œinhumaneโ€ tactics used to meet deportation quotas, arguing that they undermine public trust and conservative messaging on law and order.

Her remarks highlight a broader debate within the GOP as Republicans campaign on border security ahead of Novemberโ€™s high-stakes midterms. While voters continue to rank immigration and public safety among their top concerns, some party leaders are increasingly wary that overheated rhetoricโ€”especially following deadly confrontationsโ€”could distract from Republicansโ€™ core argument: restoring order at the border, enforcing the law, and keeping communities safe.

As fallout from the Minnesota shootings continues, political observers warn that how Republicans handle immigration enforcementโ€”and how they talk about itโ€”may prove just as important as the policies themselves in determining control of Congress this fall.

Federal Judge Blocks Trump Birthright Citizenship Order

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A second federal judge moved to block President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship Wednesday.

Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, ruled that the order is likely unconstitutional. This marks the second time a federal court has blocked the policy. The nationwide injunction is slated to remain in place while the case is adjudicated.

Boardman said the civil rights group plaintiffs, five pregnant women whose children would not be granted citizenship under the order, were likely to succeed on the merits. The plaintiffs are represented by the CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project.

Trumpโ€™s executive order seeks to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the country unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The administration argues that children of undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders are not โ€œsubject to the jurisdictionโ€ of the United States, a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment.

In January, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour temporarily blocked President Donald Trumpโ€˜s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, deeming the presidential directive โ€œblatantly unconstitutional.โ€ (RELATED: Republican Attorneys General Back Trumpโ€™s Executive Order On Birthright Citizenship)

Trump signed Executive Order 14156, titled Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship, on his first day in office. The order seeks to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to noncitizen parents, but it has already encountered significant legal pushback.

Judge Coughenour issued a restraining order against its implementation, siding with several states that argued the executive action violates the 14th Amendment and contradicts long-standing Supreme Court rulings.

The executive order was set to take effect in February, marking a bold attempt to reshape the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which has guaranteed citizenship to nearly all individuals born on U.S. soil since its ratification in 1868. Many legal experts, however, argue that any effort to alter this constitutional guarantee would require far more than an executive order.

The Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) affirmed that the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to nearly all individuals born in the U.S., regardless of their parentsโ€™ nationality. This precedent has formed the legal backbone of birthright citizenship for over a century.

Trump Administration Delivers Historic Border Security Win โ€” Lowest Apprehensions Since 1970

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Trump at the border wall via Wikimedia Commons

The Trump administration has closed fiscal year 2025 with a historic milestone on border security โ€” the lowest U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in more than five decades, according to preliminary enforcement data released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Border agents recorded 237,565 apprehensions in fiscal year 2025 โ€” slightly above the 201,780 apprehensions in 1970 but dramatically below recent levels. The numbers represent an 87% drop compared to the average of the past four fiscal years (1.86 million apprehensions) and showcase what can happen when the federal government finally enforces immigration laws.

This achievement came even though 72% of this yearโ€™s total apprehensions happened during the final 111 days of the Biden administration โ€” before President Trump returned to office and immediately began reversing his predecessorโ€™s โ€œopen-borderโ€ policies.

โ€œFiscal year 2025 shows what happens when we enforce the law without compromise,โ€ said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott. โ€œFor too long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to do their jobs โ€” and the result is the most secure border in modern history.โ€


Reversing Bidenโ€™s Border Chaos

When President Trump took office in January 2025, he inherited what many described as a border crisis fueled by Bidenโ€™s mass-release policies. In just the first 111 days of the fiscal year, under Bidenโ€™s watch, 172,026 apprehensions occurred โ€” nearly three-quarters of the yearโ€™s total.

But once Trumpโ€™s immigration directives took effect, the situation changed dramatically. Over the next 254 days, apprehensions plummeted to 65,539 โ€” just 27% of the fiscal yearโ€™s total.

September 2025 alone saw only about 279 apprehensions per day along the Southwest border โ€” a staggering 95% decline compared to the Biden-era daily average of 5,110. It also marked the fifth consecutive month of zero illegal immigrant releases by Border Patrol โ€” a stark contrast to 9,144 releases in September 2024.

Across all entry points, CBP recorded roughly 26,000 total encounters in September, down 89% from Bidenโ€™s monthly averages.


Strong Action From Day One

President Trump wasted no time taking decisive action to reestablish border control:

  • Deployed additional personnel to the southern border.
  • Ended โ€œcatch-and-releaseโ€, ensuring illegal migrants are no longer released while awaiting hearings.
  • Shut down Bidenโ€™s CBP One app parole loophole, later repurposing the app to help migrants self-deport.
  • Paused parole programs and authorized ICE to cancel parole statuses.
  • Ordered strict enforcement of existing immigration laws, restoring morale and authority to frontline border agents.

These policies stand in sharp contrast to Bidenโ€™s approach, which relied on controversial โ€œparoleโ€ programs and insisted on new legislation instead of acting on existing laws.

Trump Threatens To Deport Elon Musk By Using DOGE

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UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Billionaire Elon Musk is on thin ice…

Speaking with reporters ahead of a flight to Florida on Tuesday, the president was asked about whether he would consider deporting the South African mogul.

โ€œWeโ€™ll have to take a look,โ€ Trump said. โ€œWe might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon! Wouldnโ€™t that be terrible?โ€

Watch:

After a brief ceasefire between the president and his former DOGE lieutenant, the war of words has ratcheted up again over the past 24 hours โ€” with Musk revving up his criticism of the Trump-backed โ€œBig, Beautifulโ€ budget bill. Musk, in aย Monday post on X, denounced the legislation andย floated the idea of forming a new political party. (RELATED: White House Responds After Elon Musk Calls Trump Megabill A โ€˜Disgusting Abominationโ€™)

โ€œIt is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country โ€“ the PORKY PIG PARTY!!โ€ Musk wrote. โ€œTime for a new political party that actually cares about the people.โ€

Musk followed his post up with another, targeting the House Freedom Caucus, whose members mostly voted for the House version of the bill. โ€œHow can you call yourself the Freedom Caucus if you vote for a DEBT SLAVERY bill with the biggest debt ceiling increase in history?โ€ Muskย asked, tagging Reps.ย Chip Royย (R-Texas) andย Andy Harrisย (R-MD).

โ€œEvery member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,โ€ Musk later added, making a clear threat to help primary challengers to incumbent Republicans.

Trump, in hisย Monday night response on Truth Social,ย threatened Muskโ€™s government subsidies.

“Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one,” Trump wrote. “Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”

Trump renewed that threat Tuesday morning outside the White House.

โ€œHeโ€™s upset that heโ€™s losing his E.V. Mandate, and heโ€™s very upset about things,โ€ Trump said. โ€œBut you know, he could lose a lot more than that, I can tell you right now. Hey, Elon can lose a lot more than that!โ€

DOJ To Investigate Officials Who Obstruct Immigration Enforcement

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Illegal Immigration in the United State via Wikimedia Commons

The Justice Department wants federal prosecutors across the country to investigate state or local officials who obstruct immigration enforcement under Presidentย Donald Trump’sย new administration

According to a new memo shared by the Trump Administration, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, Trump’s former defense attorney, outlines “interim decisions and policy changes” pending the confirmation of Trumpโ€™s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi. He said interim changes are necessary as an initial response to Trumpโ€™s executive orders regarding “three of the most serious threats facing the American people.”ย 

Those threats, Bove wrote, are cartels and other transnational criminal organizations, such as Tren de Aragua (TdA) and La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), which “are a scourge on society resulting in an unstable and unsafe border and huge flows of illegal immigration in violation of U.S. law.” The memo said the second threat is how “brutal and intolerable violent crime by members of these organizations and illegal aliens is escalating rapidly across the country.” The third threat defined by Bove is how the “fentanyl crisis and opioid epidemic are poisoning our communities and have inflicted an unprecedented toll of addiction, suffering, and death.” 

“Theย Justice Departmentย must, and will, work to eradicate these threats,” Bove wrote. “Indeed, it is the responsibility of the Justice Department to defend the Constitution and, accordingly, to lawfully execute the policies that the American people elected President Trump to implement. The Justice Department’s responsibility, proudly shouldered by each of its employees, includes aggressive enforcement of laws enacted by Congress, as well as vigorous defense of the President’s actions on behalf of the United States against legal challenges. The Department’s personnel must come together in the offices that taxpayers have funded to do this vitally important work.”ย 

The memo states that the Supremacy Clause of theย U.S. Constitutionย and other authorities “require state and local actors to comply with the Executive Branch’s immigration enforcement activities.”ย 

Bove reiterated how “federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests, pursuant to, for example, the President’s extensive Article II authority with respect to foreign affairs and national security, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Alien Enemies Act.” 

Bove said U.S. Attorneys Offices “and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution, including for obstructing federal functions” in violation of federal statutes.

The Chicago Police Department is refusing to assist with upcoming deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) across the Windy City.

Chicago officials took a vow of their own to not comply after Trump laid out plans to tackle issues surrounding illegal immigration and the U.S. border.

Chicago police said the municipal code includes legislation that prevents them from assisting federal immigration authorities with enforcement based on immigration status. The department also noted it does not document immigration status, nor does it share the immigration status of individuals with federal authorities.

City ordinance requires a supervisor to respond to the scene if an immigration agency requests assistance with a civil immigration enforcement operation.

“To be clear, the Chicago Police Department will not assist or intervene in civil immigration enforcement in accordance with the City of Chicago Municipal Code,” the police departmentโ€™s statement read. “As always, we will continue to enforce the law if a crime occurs, regardless of the citizenship status of those involved.”