Illinois

* Capitol News Illinois | Pritzker criticizes Trump’s courting of tech CEOs, lack of communication: Pritzker, whose net worth is estimated at $3.7 billion by Forbes, is one of the 1,000 wealthiest people in the world. As one of the richest politicians in U.S. history, he largely self-funded his two campaigns for governor. But on Tuesday, he raised concerns about the prominent appearance of several large tech company CEOs at Trump’s inauguration. […] “These are the wealthiest people in the country who essentially Donald Trump feels better about having them around than having ordinary Americans backing him up or standing with him,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference. “And I think it’s just an indication of what this administration is really all about. It isn’t about what he ran on.”

* Pantagraph | ‘Midwestern values’ under siege by Trump, Pritzker says: “It is something that we should have comprehensive immigration reform in this country and not simply have a president who is scaring people, forcing them out of their jobs because they’re afraid to go to work,” Pritzker said, nothing that the typically vibrant business corridor in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, long a gateway for Mexican immigrants, has been empty the past few days.

* CBS Chicago | Pritzker slams Trump for trying to end birthright citizenship, demands apology from Musk for gesture compared to Nazi salute: As for Trump’s decision to pardon nearly all of the 1,500 people charged or convicted of crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, Pritzker said it reflects an about-face for the Republican party. “What used to be the party of law and order is now the party of chaos and disorder, and that stands against law enforcement. The people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 were attacking law enforcement, because that’s who was there guarding the Capitol,” Pritzker said.

Potential Mass Deportations
* Sun-Times | Chicago spared immigration raids Tuesday, but Pritzker warns feds may target ‘2,000 people’: Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday said he believes President Donald Trump’s administration is targeting “as many as 2,000 people” in Chicago in its mass deportation plan. Those numbers come from local law enforcement, according to sources with direct knowledge of the discussions. But the Chicago Police Department declined to comment on that total, as did other police sources. It’s unclear whether the number encompasses the people Trump “border czar” Tom Homan is targeting: criminals who lack legal status and immigrants with deportation orders.

* WBEZ | What can CPS schools and parents do in the face of Donald Trump’s mass deportation threat?: “Under no circumstance are we ever going to compromise our children — whether it is this issue around immigration or something else,” Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said. Students return to class on Wednesday for the first time since Trump was inaugurated. […] If federal agents show up at their school, principals have been told they should not let them engage with anyone, except on the rare occasion that they have a signed criminal arrest warrant, Martinez said. CPS does not allow immigration agents into schools without a warrant. CPS also has three lawyers at the ready to review any warrants or other paperwork and to advise staff, Martinez said.

* Tribune | ‘People are hiding.’ Chicago immigrants stay home from work to avoid potential ICE arrests: When reports surfaced over the weekend that mass deportations could potentially begin in the Chicago area Tuesday, Martin Ramos informed his boss that he was taking time off from work, stocked up on groceries and decided his kids would skip soccer practice this week. Ramos — who emigrated from Guadalajara, Mexico, without the necessary work permits — spent the first full day of Donald Trump’s second presidency hunkered down with his family and trying to avoid being picked up by ICE agents. An arrest, he knows, would destroy everything he and his wife worked for and force their two boys into an uncertain future.

* WGN | Chicago police reminded they can’t cooperate with deportations: The Illinois law that prohibits local police from detaining a person because of their immigration status was actually signed by former Republican governor Bruce Rauner during the first Trump administration. “I asked leaders in law enforcement, ‘Should I veto the bill or sign this bill?’” Rauner said in 2017. “They all said to me, ‘Governor, this is a reasonable compromise and it will help us do our jobs better.’”

* WCIA | ‘A lot of fear among a lot of people’; Champaign Co. immigrants brace for deportations, arrests: About 2.5 hours away from Chicago, places like Champaign County are preparing for potential arrests and deportations, although there are no clear signs the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will raid the area. […] “It’s creating a lot of fear among a lot of people,” Lucia Maldonado, Urbana School District Latino family liaison, said. “This is going to affect families, this is going to affect the economy, this is going to affect businesses.”

Jan. 6 Pardons

* WBEZ| Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 riot help more than 50 defendants from Illinois: More than 50 Donald Trump supporters from Illinois will get their federal rap sheets wiped clean after the new president’s Day 1 signing of about 1,500 pardons related to the notorious riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Dozens of Trump’s supporters from the Chicago area and other parts of the state ended up in the dragnet during the U.S. Justice Department’s enormous, four-year investigation into the failed effort to overturn Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.

* BND | Four from southern Illinois are among those Trump pardoned in Jan. 6 Capitol riots: At least four people from southern Illinois were pardoned by President Donald Trump Monday for their roles in the riots inside and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Three of the men had pleaded guilty to felony charges, including assaulting a U.S. Capitol Police officer, while another pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for entering the Capitol building.

* Shaw Local | 2 from McHenry County, convicted in Jan. 6 actions at U.S. Capitol, among those expected to get Trump pardons: Two McHenry County residents who have pleaded guilty to charges connected to their actions on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, have been pardoned for their crimes on the first day of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, along with more than 1,500 others. Robert Giacchetti of Crystal Lake and Nhi Ngoc Mai Le, formerly of Lake in the Hills, previously pleaded guilty to charges.

* Shaw Local | Convicted Will County residents part of Trump Jan. 6 sweeping pardons: In Will County, there are at least five people who’ve pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to the incident, according to a database from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington. Those include Crest Hill couple Amy and John Schubert Jr., Lockport couple Kelly Lynn Fontaine and Brian Dula, and Anthony Carollo, of Lockport. Only Fontaine was sentenced to serve jail time. The others received probation.

Birthright Citizenship

* Tribune | Illinois joins in lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship: Illinois joined three Western states on Tuesday in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. […] A separate lawsuit against the order, aimed at the children of non-U.S. citizens, was filed in Massachusetts by 18 other states. Raoul’s office didn’t immediately respond to a question about why he signed onto the lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle along with the states of Washington, Arizona and Oregon.

Click here for the Illinois suit.

National

* AP | Justice Department directs prosecutors to probe local efforts to obstruct immigration enforcement: It also directs prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal charges cases in which state and local officials obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for prosecution, the memo cites a conspiracy offense as well as a law prohibiting the harboring of people in the country illegally. “Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” the memo says. “The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution.

Click here for the full memo.

* WaPo | Trump officials pause health agencies’ communications, citing review: The instructions were delivered Tuesday to staff at agencies inside the Department of Health and Human Services, including officials at the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health, one day after the new administration took office, according to the people with knowledge, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. Some people familiar with the matter acknowledged that they expected some review during a presidential transition but said they were confused by the pause’s scope and indeterminate length.

* AP | US throws out policies limiting arrests of migrants at sensitive locations like schools, churches: The move announced Tuesday reverses guidance that for over a decade has restricted two key federal immigration agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — from carrying out immigration enforcement in sensitive locations. “This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens — including murderers and rapists — who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Tuesday.

* Business Insider | Trump’s mass deportation plan could drain more than $20 billion a year from Social Security: Some researchers are concerned that deportations could further constrict the already dwindling pool of Social Security funds. In 2022, immigrants living in the US illegally paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes and $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, per the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That same year, the Social Security Administration reported that it doled out benefits totaling over $1 trillion.

* Chalkbeat | Trump executive orders on immigrants, transgender rights could echo in American schools: Many executive orders are expected to facilitate enhanced immigration enforcement. Around the country, schools are sharing messages of support with families who could be caught up in enforcement actions and encouraging parents to make sure their children’s emergency contacts are up to date in case caregivers are detained. Some school systems are also clarifying how they will respond if immigration agents seek entrance to their buildings, with many saying they will consult their attorneys and only allow agents with signed judicial warrants to enter their schools.

Please remember to take some deep breaths before commenting. Thanks.