Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker elevated false claim of ICE agents targeting Chicago school
Tom Homan shuts down rumors ICE went to a school: 'Put fear in the community'
Border czar Tom Homan joins 'America Reports' to discuss immigration enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump's administration.
Trump border czar Tom Homan demanded an apology from Illinois officials who falsely claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to conduct a raid at a school in late January.
"Pedro Martinez lied," Homan said on "America Reports," Monday.
Martinez, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, said on MSNBC Friday that ICE agents visited an elementary school on the Southwest Side earlier that morning.
"We had individuals that came to one of our schools, Hamline Elementary School, that presented credentials and shared that they were from ICE," Martinez claimed. "And so our staff followed the protocols. We're very clear. We've been training our principals, our security guards, any front office staff to make sure that they know that we are not to share any information with anybody from the Immigration Department or ICE."
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ICE agents knock on the door of a residence during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 26. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Officials later clarified that it was not ICE, but Secret Service agents at the school who were investigating a threat from TikTok.
"[Martinez] knew they were Secret Service agents because I talked to the people involved," Homan explained. "They left their credentials. He knew exactly who were there. So he lied. Again, sowing fear in the immigrant community."
Homan then turned his criticism to Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who wrote on X, Friday, "After a week of Republicans sowing fear and chaos, the first reports of raids in Chicago are at an elementary school. Targeting children and separating families is cruel and un-American."
Homan called out Pritzker for failing to find out the truth before turning to social media.
"Governor Pritzker, rather than calling ICE and asking, ‘Did this happen or did it not happen?’ he goes on social media and terrifies elementary schoolers. … He accuses me of terrifying the community. No, he terrified the community. He terrified the children," Homan said.
"Governor Pritzker needs to give ICE an apology," he continued. "What he did was just plain wrong. And by doing that, he put fear in a community that shouldn't have to be there. Children shouldn't have to fear ICE agents walking into an elementary school to arrest them."
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Homan reiterated ICE’s goal of apprehending people in the country illegally who pose a threat to public safety and national security, an issue that President Donald Trump ran on in 2024.
"President Trump won the election on this one issue, securing our border and saving lives. … We're going to do this job, and we're going to enforce the laws of this country. If they don't like it, then go to Congress and change the law."
"We're going to make our community safer," he said. "It's all for the good of this nation. And we're going to keep going. No apologies, we’re moving forward."
