(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump’s influx of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations is causing panic and hurting people in Chicago, said Byron Sigcho Lopez, the Democratic alderman for Chicago’s 25th Ward.
On Sunday, Trump border czar Tom Homan and the acting deputy attorney general were in the city as ICE operations ramped up. It came just days after reports leaked of mass deportation raids planned in the sanctuary city.
“I think that to deploy the force of government against innocent people sends a chilling effect,” Sigcho Lopez told NewsNation.
“[It’s] not something that a democratic president will do, but something the dictators do to bypass the constitutional rights to criminalize entire communities,” he added.
Sigcho Lopez said that local businesses are reporting losses, parents aren’t putting kids in school, and people are not going to hospitals or churches amid fear of ICE.
He said that some “MAGA fanatics” even harassed churchgoers in the ward.
The alderman pointed to the pardoning of 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters as hypocritical, telling NewsNation that the hundreds of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys are facing less persecution than “children who go to school.”
Chicago and state officials, including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, have vowed to protect immigrant communities from mass deportations.
Mayor Brandon Johnson shared on X: “We’ve received reports of ICE enforcement activity in Chicago today. Please know that Chicago police were not involved. My team and I are working closely with City officials.”