Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here, and I appreciate the work that you all do.
First, I do want to thank the thousands of city workers who were out this weekend serving the people of Chicago
and keeping our city running during this latest winter storm.
While Chicago didn't experience the worst of what hit parts of the East Coast, that didn't happen by accident.
It happened because of preparation.
It also happened because of strong coordination and people who care deeply about our city.
It happened because of the tireless work of our emergency management teams, our first responders in CFD and CPD,
our Department of Buildings crews restoring heat, and our streets and sanitation workers who showed up in a very powerful way in force for our city.
It was because of the hardworking women and men who were out there in the cold that many Chicagoans were able to stay home.
From Saturday evening on, when the snowfall started, we had more than 275 snow plows
and a fleet of salt spreaders across 9,400 miles of roadway.
DSS crews also endured the harsh weather and, of course,
ensured the safety of our CPS students coming and going from school
by clearing the areas around our schools.
Also, DFSS operated our warming centers and our senior centers as well.
As a city, we will continue to monitor this week of extreme cold
and work collaboratively to respond to any issues that may arise and ultimately work to keep our residents safe.
I also want to thank the Chicagoans who braved the code this weekend to stand in solidarity with Minneapolis
and protest the unjust killing of Alex Preddy, a health care worker and a beloved community member in Minneapolis.
Nurse Preddy, who was born right here in Illinois, was engaging in the time-honored and sanctified American tradition of protesting unjust actions by an overbearing federal government.
I was proud to march with the thousands of Chicagoans and residents who honored his life and made their voices heard to prevent another tragic killing like this from happening again.
we are reminded that there is power in our protest
Greg Bovino has been sent on his way
as I've called for on Sunday for him to go
it's sad that it took the killing of at least three people
under his watch for the administration to actually react
but make no mistake about it
without Bovino in charge
there is still yet the threat of this administration to send another Bavino.
He was certainly a petty, cruel individual who will one day have to answer for his actions.
I stand with the leadership of Minneapolis and Minnesota in calling for DHS agents to be pulled from the city
and for full transparency and accountability for the killing of Nurse Alex Preddy.
And I encourage Chicagoans to keep doing what we do best, participating fully in our democracy and peacefully protesting the unlawful, unjust, and dangerous occupation of ICE in our cities.
Chicago is going to continue doing everything in our power to uphold democracy and to protect all of our people.
As I speak here today, there is a hearing between the Joint Committee of Police and Fire and the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights to review the unprecedented and dangerous immigration enforcement we've seen in Chicago over the past year.
Specifically, we are discussing an amendment that would allow COPA to investigate alleged violations of our Welcoming City Ordinance.
This is an important amendment that we have championed since the internal review we conducted with our IMR team following the June 4th ICE raid.
We support this effort because it is critical that the people of Chicago understand that we take violations of our welcoming city policies seriously,
and they deserve a swift and transparent investigation into any alleged violations.
It is not enough to be a welcoming city on paper.
We must enforce our local law so that we can maintain the trust that we have built between law enforcement and immigrant communities throughout Chicago.
Any violation or even the allegation of a violation can undermine that trust.
So that is why it's important that there is an independent investigation when concerns are raised.
This amendment would allow COPA to do just that, and we hope that the Council will support this common-sense measure.
We will not let fear-mongering or hatred dictate our values nor change who we are.
We remain committed to using the full force of local government and our partnerships to protect the safety and dignity of all who call the city of Chicago home.
My team is looking at additional measures that will be released in the coming days
to continue to lead the nationwide response for cities.
This moment challenges us to look at measures that we hadn't previously considered.
We are working closely with community leaders, our allies on the city council,
and report responders on the ground to build in mechanisms for accountability and justice.
So thank you all again, of course, especially to the Chicagoans who are standing up for our neighbors and our country at this moment.
I'm very proud to stand with you all.
And with that, I'm happy to take and answer any of your questions.