Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says Chicago should expect ICE agents in the city this weekend, and again says the National Guard should stay out.
Speaking on Chicago's South Side on Wednesday, the Governor said, "what we're hearing is that they'll (ICE) be assembled, ready to go on Friday, and that they would begin actions on Saturday, over the weekend, that's all we know."
The Governor wants Chicagoans to be ready for ICE, saying, "we've asked for the public to be ready with your iPhone...to record anything that's going on their neighborhoods by ICE because we think that's the best way to demonstrate what ICE is doing if they're doing something wrong, or to keep them honest in doing the right thing because they know they're being watched."
Governor Pritzker spoke at the Metropolitan Peace Academy, a program of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, at 2100 South Morgan, as community violence interrupters in Chicago held emergency training to prepare for possible federal troop deployment.
The Governor said, once again, that Illinois and Chicago don't want or need federal troops to fight crime and said President Trump wants him to ask for troops because, the Governor says, this will end up in court, and the President would like to use the Governor's words against him in court.
"That will be a fact," the Governor said, "that they will use in court, that the Governor called to ask for help. And I'm sorry, I'm not going to provide him (President Trump) with evidence to support his desire to have the court rule in his favor."
Instead of the National Guard, Governor Pritzker said he wants more federal help with civilian law enforcement, including more FBI and ATF agents who work with state police and Chicago Police to stop the flow of guns and drugs.