Chicago Politics

Press Briefing 1.28.25

Legislation

Description

Mayor Brandon Johnson hosts a press briefing.

Transcript

2:05 and thank you all for being here. I'm standing with the full force of government today to demonstrate that Chicago is a welcoming city. Regardless of who's in the White House, Chicago is a city that opens its arms to people from around the globe. We will continue to protect civil and human rights, and we welcome all individuals and families who want to work, live, and thrive here in our beloved city. The Welcoming City Ordinance is a law, and it is the law of the land here in Chicago. We will uphold it along with the Complementary

2:39 Illinois Trust Act to ensure that our immigrant communities are safe. Furthermore, we intend to continue to empower all of our communities throughout our city with crucial information and resources at this time. On the city's website, Chicago.gov, we offer a Know Your Rights Resource Guide, providing all information, tools, and contacts that our immigrant communities should know. The full force of government from my office, city departments, as well

3:14 as all of our agencies, are in direct communication with businesses, schools, hospitals, houses of worship, and community organizations across the city to ensure that we are responding to our community's needs. I highly encourage everyone to review our Know Your Rights Guide and familiarize yourself with the ways that you can protect yourself, your family, and your neighbors. As a city, we are working together to share and spread the crucial information.

3:48 City leadership and I remain close in our communications. We will continue to work closely with the Chicago Police Department to continue to monitor to this situation. We stand together firmly in our welcoming city status, as well as our commitment to protecting all residents of the city of Chicago, no matter where you come from or how long you've lived here. Thank you for that, and I'm happy to answer your questions. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. You've been invited to speak before Congress.

4:24 Will you go? And what do you expect to tell them? I'm going to turn that over to my corporate counsel, Mary Richardson-Lauric. Good morning, Mary Richardson-Lauric, corp counsel. We did receive an invitation from the oversight committee, and it is under legal review so we are not able to respond directly to your question in terms of whether he will go. It is a communication and we'll be making legal determinations as to the substance of that communication.

5:00 Just on that, would you be inclined to go if your legal representation tells you that you should? Mary, I'd love to hear from you if you would. Mary Richardson, Lori Corporation Counsel. I appreciate the question and the interest. It would be premature to talk about going until such time that we've properly digested all the legal issues as well as the other substantive aspects of the communication from the oversight community.

5:30 So you're not even clear right now whether he could be compelled to go? It's an invitation that we have received. It is not a document that compelled. Excuse me. Alex Capriela with NewsNation. We do know that the Trump administration has threatened legal action against sanctuary cities that hold similar to your welcoming city ordinance. So I'm wondering if this was a discussion since President Trump became the president again for a second term,

6:05 knowing that this sort of invitation might be coming and how the city of Chicago might have been preparing for this moment. Well, again, regardless of who's in the White House, we're going to project our values and what working people across this city have asked for. They have asked for investments and opportunities to make sure that they have the ability to afford to live in this beloved city, to make sure that their children can go to a school that's within their neighborhood, that's fully funded,

6:37 to have reliable transportation, environmental justice, all the investments that we're making. That's what the people of Chicago are experiencing in my administration. So, again, regardless of who's in the White House, it's not going to be a determinant of whether or not we're going to hold up to our values. We are a welcoming city. We're proud of that work. And we'll continue to make sure that we're protecting the interests of all working people in the city. And a brief follow up, Mayor, your reaction to Borders are Tom Homan making his presence known here in your city over the weekend and the arrest that happened.

7:08 And your overall thoughts on this first week of the Trump administration, particularly when it comes to our city. Well, look, I think what's clear from this administration is that they do not have the full pulse or the breadth of what people in America are calling for. And, you know, he has made it no secret that he wants to dismantle the education department. And he's made it very clear that he is not willing to uphold the very sensibilities of our democracy

7:41 to make sure that we're protecting the civil rights of individuals. As a former public school teacher, the fact that everything that we won and fought for during Reconstruction, he is trying to roll back the hands of time. And as I've said, there's a clear disdain for the fact that the Civil War went in a direction that clearly there are people in this country who have not accepted. So we're going to continue to stand up for working people. That's what my mission is. As the city of Chicago, we are the heartbeat of America, and we will continue to lead the way.

8:15 Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. Are you angry or were you angry or surprised at getting that letter? What was your initial reaction at reading it? Well, I don't get angry. It's just not my temperament. Sometimes I might get a little frustrated. But, look, my focus is investing in people. That's what the people of Chicago deserve. You see the full force of government on display here. We're not going to get sidetracked and allow anyone to push us to forfeit our humanity.

8:51 We're not going to surrender that. So I'm focused on investing in people. We have a lot of work that we have to continue to do in Chicago, and I'm grateful that there are many people who understand the importance of that work. And pivoting a little bit, the White House also put temporary funding, cut temporarily funding to projects across the country, nonprofits, agencies, governments. I'm wondering if you can talk about what could be affected or what you're worried about or watching.

9:24 In particular, I'm wondering the red line, is that in jeopardy of being on hold or cut at all? Well, look, it's, again, no secret that this administration has a great deal of disdain for working people. I'm going to pass it to my corporate counsel here, but I had a conversation earlier today with Senator Durbin as well as Senator Duckworth. These are unprecedented attempts, but to attempt to defund child care,

10:00 or to defund infrastructure projects, this is something that is well outside the purview of the executive office. These appropriations have been mandated by the legislative branch. These are laws. And, you know, we as a country of laws and democracy, we prefer when we have leaders who actually are committed to upholding that law.

10:30 Mary, anything else? Mary Richardson-Laurie again, Corporation Counsel. Appreciate the question. All the EOs and directives are under legal review. We, like every other city, that it will be subject to what has been advanced as a path forward. We'll be analyzing it to see what its impact is on the city, both in terms of our budget, any existing projects and initiatives. So rest assured, we are continuing that review.

11:02 Again, I'm going to say I have to be careful about saying more at this time, but we are analyzing it for impact. Thank you for the question. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. Do you or any of your colleagues here know the exact number of Chicago residents who have been detained since ICE and immigration enforcement began their new operation here on Sunday? I'm going to turn that to our police superintendent, Larry Snelling. Good morning, everybody. Superintendent Larry Snelling, Chicago Police Department.

11:33 What I can tell you right now is that we don't have an exact number of Chicago people who have been detained, but what I can tell you is that the number in the Chicagoland area exceeds 100. And that includes near suburbs as well? Yes. So we're looking at the Chicagoland area, so not just Chicago itself, but all of our surrounding suburbs. And one follow-up perhaps for you, Superintendent. What communication, if any, are you hearing, I know you are not allowed to communicate about people's immigration status with federal officials, but what are you hearing,

12:05 if anything, from immigration enforcement officials, your officers, your department? So here, our officers have direct information on how to respond to these things if they're called to it. And as you can see, standing here as the leadership of all of our bureaus, that communication goes out to our officers and the leadership and who's to respond if officers are called to a location that pertains to immigration. As you know, based on the Welcoming City Ordinance, that we're prohibited from engaging with federal agencies when it comes to immigration.

12:42 So we follow the laws around that. However, there is direct communication. It would be irresponsible of me as the leader of the police department in the city of Chicago not to have some type of communication with these federal agencies to know when they're coming to our city. And with that communication, we do get information as to when they're going to show up. We don't get that information way ahead of time because, obviously, they're not going to jeopardize their operation at the same time.

13:18 And rightfully so. I understand that as an agent of law enforcement. So the communication is there. and my focus is to stay in direct contact with them so that we know what's going on at all times in our city. Mayor Chris Tai with CBS News Chicago. Good morning. Good morning. It's good to see you. Good to see you. Can you give us a little insight into your thinking for the folks who are here illegally with violent criminal pasts, taking them sort of off the radar,

13:50 off the cost of getting them off the streets, Is there some value? Can you give us some sense? Is there some value for those who meet that criteria? How are you thinking about those people right now? Well, there's a federal law that clearly states if you are undocumented and you are convicted of a crime, you are subject to deportation. That's the law. I fully expect the federal government to uphold that law. Now, being a welcoming city just simply states that our local police department will not behave as federal agents.

14:23 There's a clear separation of powers there. You know, look, every administration, by the way, has deported individuals from our country. Every administration. We know those numbers, right? Right. You know, the this documentary that apparently is being worked on right now, it's just it's it's tiresome, quite frankly, because, look, there's a real goal here to stoke fear into the American people.

14:55 Right. He's threatening funding for child care. He's threatening funding. and whether or not we're going to have fully funded education in our country. There are schools that are being closed in Dallas, Texas. I mean, there are schools that are being subject to this terror all over the country. You know, his unwillingness to cooperate with mayors across this country who know we need to have more investments in our infrastructure. That's what I'm thinking about every day because that's what the people of America are thinking about.

15:26 How are they going to put food on their table? No answer from this administration. How are we going to ensure that our communities have affordable homes? There's no answer from this administration. How are we going to lower the prices of groceries? No answer from this administration. And so, yes, that's tiresome because there's a whole host of elements in which this administration has threatened, and this idea that somehow because you put your name on a piece of paper, you deserve an A+. us. That's not how leadership works. That's why the city of Chicago, we're leading the way to make

16:02 sure that we are standing up for working people and we will continue to do that. A follow-up question. The vast, vast majority of those who are unauthorized immigrants in this country are in California, Texas, and Florida. Why do you think that the Trump administration is focusing in on Chicago? You know, look, I've expressed this. Thank you for that question. I've expressed the love story of Chicago on multiple occasions. I'll do it again. A black Haitian immigrant fell in love with a Potawatomi woman and established a trade post at the bank of the river, understanding

16:37 that Chicago one day will be the global capital of the world. It's a city that immigrants from around the world have come to find this place as refuge. Whether you are an Italian immigrant, an Irish, Polish, a Jewish immigrant, descendants of slaves who migrated from the South my family's a part of the second migration like this is this is where the soul that's best the soul of Chicago we have one of the most diverse economies in the world we're not one industry captures more than 14 percent of our overall GDP we're continuing to invest we're continuing to invest in all of our

17:12 public assets 20 billion dollars of new investments those are reasons of why he should pay attention to Chicago and if the administration is committed to to helping with those investments, to grow more affordable housing units, to grow businesses. That's what we're doing. But I will say, you know, to some extent, I think the attention on Chicago is because of where we have stood historically. And this is the place where we said keep hope alive, that launched a civil rights leader onto a national stage.

17:44 The first black woman to serve in the United States Senate. Electricity came to life here. Skyscrapers right here in the city of Chicago. And now we have investment on the southeast side of Chicago for the first time in 32 years. So there's a lot to behold. I think he is showing a real odd way of being attracted to our city. If he loves our city, he should just figure out how to work with folks. And I think the last thing that I'll say is if he was really serious about transforming our immigration system in this country, he would pass a law.

18:19 there's a bipartisan law right now on the senate side that will provide more border support more judges to move asylum cases faster uh to to create pathways to citizenship he's not doing that because he wants to stoke fear into people so that he can ultimately um you know behave as the supreme existence which is quite dangerous because when you have a leader that believes that they are supreme and above the law, there's some real nasty history that demonstrates how damning that can be

18:52 for the people on the planet. Sean Lewis from WGN-TV. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Sean. When we're talking about what Tom Homan was talking about yesterday, he said that the raids and the arrests were targeted. There was no wide net being cast, perhaps bringing people into custody who were not accused or convicted of crimes. Is that the information you are receiving here through CPD and through contacts in the federal government? Good morning, Cheryl. Just

19:26 so that you know, and like I said before, we have contact and we are talking and that is the information that they have provided for us. And I will say this, and the mayor mentioned this about stoking fear we're hearing that children aren't going to school people aren't going to work there's a level of fear out there that we have to bring down and as authorities we have a responsibility to be that calming voice and I think it's important for every

20:00 We want to understand right now that the information that we're getting directly from our federal partners and when I say partners, these are people that we have worked with through the DNC and we work with on everyday crime issues as those violent crimes affect our city. There is communication and that's the communication that we're getting right now. So we want to make sure that people understand that there is some level of communication. We don't interfere with what they're doing, even though the laws around the welcoming city ordinance prohibit us from assisting them in immigration situations.

20:40 If there are violent crimes or things of that nature that are happening, we as a police department in Chicago will respond to keep our city safe. So we just want to make that distinction clear. But there is clear communication between us and the federal agencies who are coming in to do this work. And if I could, my Chief Operations Officer, John Robertson, I'll let him speak to this too, because this is not just about the coordination with the Chicago Police Department. This is with coordination with the full force of government.

21:13 John? Thank you, Mayor. John Robertson, Chief Operating Officer for the City of Chicago. So from the time that we knew the results of the election, the mayor directed us to begin preparations for this transition of power. And so across the entire city enterprise, we have pulled together all the departments, all the various city agencies to prepare for this moment. That's why our legal department is postured and in the position to be able to respond to our executive orders.

21:46 That's why the police department is ready to do their part in terms of constitutional policing. That's why our various departments are ready to stand and serve and protect the residents of the city of Chicago, because that is the directive that Mayor Johnson gave us. And so in this moment, we are not fearful. We are confident. We are secure. And we're going to be decisive in doing the things that we need to do to protect and serve the residents of our city. One quick follow-up, Mayor.

22:16 Sure. When you see a memo come out about pausing federal funding, do you see that perhaps as a way to encourage sanctuary cities, welcoming cities to change policies because cities like Chicago rely on federal funding to keep its operation going? Well, look, I'm not going to speculate the impetus behind that letter. What I can say is, as Mary Richardson-Laurie has articulated, there will be a full review of the executive orders, including this particular letter that was sent to me.

22:55 Here's what I do know. The federal government has a responsibility to ensure that every single resident across this country receives ample amount of investments to ensure vibrancy as well as the ability to pursue happiness under our Constitution. I wish, maybe I shouldn't wish this, but I wish I had a better sense of why this administration has shown so much disdain towards working people.

23:31 So, you know, child care and elderly care, these are things that the people of Chicago require from their federal government because those are the tax dollars that we expect to be delivered back to us in those services. Same thing with transportation, our environment. All of the investments that we are making are ultimately designed to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago. So whatever the motives are of this administration, I can't speak to.

24:05 All I can say is that there are people across the city of Chicago and this country that want a federal government that doesn't show animus towards working people. Now more than ever, we have to do everything in our power to ensure that working people have the ability, again, to pursue a life of happiness in this beloved country. and we deserve to have a democracy that reflects our values, our full values. And that's why we're going to continue to lead the way in the city of Chicago

24:36 to demonstrate that regardless of who's in the White House, we're going to continue to fight to ensure that a better, stronger, safer Chicago becomes a reality. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. Do you all have an estimate, maybe a dollar figure, for how much grant funding could be subject to that federal freeze if it is upheld? Annette, do we have it since? I'll turn it to my budget director. Thank you for that question. Good morning, Annette Guzman. Thank you. I'm budget director. We do. We did an analysis of all of our grant funding that we received last year, as well as what is anticipated to be received based on appropriations that have been enacted by Congress.

25:19 You know, we have about $4 billion worth of grants in the city of Chicago, and a portion of that is federal direct grant dollars that we receive. And so we do know what is at, I guess, subject to the letter that just came out. We are analyzing our analysis again based on what OMB put out at 8 p.m. last night. So we are going to be doing some further digging to better understand what's at present risk. And would you know sort of which departments or which programs maybe could face the most holdup via that letter?

26:00 Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, we do have that analysis, and we are working directly with those departments to better understand the impact of, you know, funds if they were 100% no longer available. But, again, this letter that just came out just came out last night. We don't know the full implications of what OMB's actions will mean, and we don't know, you know, what potentially Congress will do based on, you know, the letter that came out from OMB. So we're, again, that letter came out last night.

26:32 We are analyzing it, and we'll be speaking directly with our departments. Hello, Annette, if you could stay right there. I will just say one other quick thing to that, and don't go too far, though. Again, I spoke with Senators Durbin and Duckworth this morning, as well as other members of our congressional delegation. We are very blessed to have the congressional delegation that we have, and they have assured me that they're going to continue to fight on behalf of the residents of Chicago

27:03 and the entire state of Illinois. Go ahead, Lawrence. Just to clarify, on that $4 billion figure, is that the total grant funding that the city receives and you expect some portion of that to be affected by the letter? Yeah, I mean, I think what we do know is, you know, we have large grants in infrastructure. We have grants in almost, you know, from a lot of departments on the federal level. And so, you know, there's varying degrees of what we think could be impacted based on pronouncements from the Trump administration, both before coming into office, as well as since they've taken office.

27:42 And we are, again, analyzing all of our options. You know, we need some time to analyze the letter that came out from OMB last night, what does it exactly mean to pause federal funding. But we're doing that work right now, and we'll have more to say later. And I know there's a lot of uncertainty on this. Do you have an idea of how long that uncertainty has to last before, you know, you make decisions based on it, like not hiring for a grant-funded position, not letting out a contract?

28:13 those kind of real impacts that would translate, when do you start considering taking those actions? That's a great question. I think that, you know, as our legal counsel had noted before, you know, we are reviewing those things right now. We have to talk directly with our departments to understand exactly what programming is at risk. if we don't continue certain activities based on the pronouncements that have come out from OMB and from those EOs.

28:46 But, you know, we are hopefully going to be making those determinations sooner rather than later. And again, I just want to underscore, as I've spoken with our senators, we're not entirely sure if he's working within the framework of his authority, right? So it's a legitimate question in terms of what this so-called pause means. But, you know, no one has been able to determine whether or not the executive branch has the ability to uphold,

29:20 I'm sorry, or rescind a law that has been specified in terms of appropriations. Hey, Mayor. Hey. Oh, I'm sorry. Yo. Very funny. Mayor, you didn't make a comment when other politicians did on Hamline. I don't think you publicly appeared in the areas affected by ICE efforts, but you're also clear today in your sanctuary city stances. What balance are you trying to strike when it comes to showing support for communities facing deportations and challenging Trump? Calm leadership.

29:52 It's calm leadership. This is what executive leadership looks like. Look, I have an incredible team. There's a lot of... People who serve this city, whether you're in the police department, public health department, budget, streets and sanitation, or public schools, city colleges. As I've expressed, our chief operations officer has a responsibility to continue to bring people together to ensure that there are procedural protocols that we maintain. I know that there is duress and stress.

30:24 I was talking to my deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant, and refugee rights, Beatrice Ponce de Leon, and she is doing an absolute fabulous job of coordinating with our alders, with our community-based organizations, partners, and there is real anxiety in the air. and I just think it's important that the people of Chicago to know that the type of fear that this administration is trying to incite we are demonstrating that we are going to protect the residents of this city

30:57 and we're going to continue to challenge the federal government to make critical investments in the lives of people who want a better, stronger, safer Chicago and so just like we dealt with the crisis at the border when the Republican Party attacked our city, sending buses without notice. We got through that. We're going to get through this moment, and we're going to get through it together. And another question for you and Superintendent Snelling. Do you know the identities of the individuals taken into custody in Chicago and whether they were indeed convicted of violent offenses, as Trump officials have said?

31:30 So what I will tell you about that is that we don't have that information right now. We leave that to the federal agencies who take those people into custody. But again, and I'll say it again, what has been communicated to us, and this was communicated to us directly from the federal agency, that they're looking for people with criminal convictions. So we're staying focused on what we do as a police department for the city of Chicago.

32:04 and keeping people safe, but we also want to put a message out to people that there's no need to be afraid to show up to work. There's no need to be afraid to go to school. If you know that you are a law-abiding citizen here, or I'm sorry, just a law-abiding individual here in the city of Chicago who wants to work and provide for your family, show up to work.

32:35 The kids need to be educated, and let's take the fear out of it. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. What communications did CPS officials make to your office on Friday before they told the press that there was an ice raid at Hamlin Elementary? Gary? Good morning. Deputy Mayor Gary and Gatewood. The lines of communication will be stronger. You know, this is why we waited to make sure we verified information before information was out. The lines of communication with CPS and all of our agencies will be stronger.

33:08 As the mayor mentioned, this is some of the work that our COO is leading. Can you be more specific on how the protocol will be improved? Because it did seem like from our end that the sister agency was not in lockstep with City Hall. Yeah, the protocol will be improved because our COO is leading an effort to make sure people understand their roles and responsibilities and making sure those protocols are followed going forward. Mayor Johnson, there are over 400,000 illegal aliens, migrants in the state of Illinois, city of Chicago.

33:43 Many of them have criminal and deportation orders. There are, at best, because of Chicago's sanctuary city policy, a revolving door policy towards illegal aliens who have committed the most heinous of crimes. Chikungans are asking me, what would it take for you to perhaps take their safety and their security seriously? If something were to happen, if an illegal were to rape, rob, murder, commit a, I don't know,

34:20 a hit and run against you or Stacy, your wife, would that be enough for you to take this public safety crisis seriously? Well, safety is our top priority. And we've already made critical investments in the city of Chicago to continue to build safer communities. That's why in every major category, violent crime continues to go down because of those investments. And so the federal government has a responsibility that if there are individuals that are undocumented that have been convicted of a crime, that is their responsibility.

35:00 to apprehend those individuals and deport them. That's nothing new. Every administration has done that. Some administrations have been aggressively working to deport individuals. I believe between 2006 and 2016, I believe it was about 2 million individuals were deported. So this is not unprecedented in that regard. But the federal agents that have the responsibility to detain and deport undocumented individuals that have been charged or, I'm sorry, convicted of a crime, that is their responsibility, and I fully expect them to uphold the law.

35:41 The people of Chicago tell me that your answers are nothing more than double talk, word salad, pre-scripted PR statements. um tom holman showed up in chicago and within 24 hours found a convicted sex offender who has been living in our city since 2009 uh flouting the sex offender registry uh if he can do this why can't you because that's their job that that is their job the federal job is not to

36:15 It has a responsibility to make sure that individuals who are undocumented, who have been charged with, convicted of a crime, it is the federal government's responsibility to do their part and uphold the law. Our local police department, along with our public health department, along with our other sister agencies are working to build a better, stronger, safer Chicago. And as we've stated repeatedly, those critical investments, you continue to see the results of those investments as violent crime continues to fall in Chicago.

36:50 Thank you very much. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. How or what can the city do to assure people who are now afraid that they can go to work, they can go to church when the authorities are allegedly operating under the permission to go to churches and schools? How can you make people feel more secure when they're hearing from Washington

37:20 that those places that they feel should be secure or not? Well, those places are secure and they are safe. And, you know, as the superintendent indicated, he's in communication with, you know, key members within the federal government that provide detail of where they will seek these individuals that fit within this category. But there is ongoing work that's being done and led by our Deputy Mayor of Community Safety

37:55 and our Deputy Mayor of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights. Beatrice, would you like to speak to some of that work that we are doing to ensure the people of Chicago that they are safe? Yes, thank you. You're welcome. Good morning. Beatrice Ponsaleon, Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights. I just want to reiterate that our campaign to share information that is people's rights in this country and partnering with community groups to do that is making a difference and giving people information that they need to make decisions for themselves and their families.

38:26 There is certainly fear in communities that have been torn apart before. People here who have been living in the U.S., working, paying taxes, sending their children to school, we are seeing that there is a heightened fear of what might be happening with this immigration enforcement. And they will make the decisions they need for themselves and their families. Our role is to give them some information that they can use to work with our community partners to get that information out. I also encourage folks who are concerned to connect to those community organizations that are supporting immigrants and refugees.

39:05 Chicago is a place that has a robust network of social services organizations and legal services organizations, not just for immigrants and refugees, but for all Chicagoans. And this is a moment to connect with those groups, to be in community, as people make those determinations for themselves about how to feel safe in Chicago. We have heard multiple times today that the city will continue to follow the Welcoming City Ordinance and do our part to make sure that our city departments and sister agencies know how to respond,

39:38 to add a layer of confidence and safety in our communities as well. Thank you. Thank you. And just one other question for you, Mr. Mayor. Sure. Of course. How do you feel about the presence of Dr. Phil accompanying the federal agents? You know, my communications team, they're not going to be happy with me right now. I know that. You know, this desire to popularize fear is unconscionable and abhorrent.

40:18 Just there's no other way to describe it. We're talking about people's lives. Look, we're all committed to making sure that we have safe communities, all of us. I have not met anyone, regardless of your political ideology, that you don't want safe communities. I mean, I think we can fundamentally agree as Americans, as global residents, that we want safe communities. Now, there are debates around how we get at having safe communities. That's fair. That's what democracy should lend itself.

40:49 But to use this moment to popularize fear is something that is unconscionable. And we fully reject the level of intimidation that this administration is trying to uphold. We're Chicago. We're built different. And we're not going to be afraid of anybody that is threatening the livelihoods and our economic structure in this city. Look, we fought hard to get $432 million from the federal government to assist the west side and south side of the city of Chicago.

41:25 who experienced flooding. We fought hard to make sure that that red line extension, the $1.97 billion to finalize the extension, these are real dollars for the people of this city. And with all the work that we have to do to build and to strengthen our economy, the last thing that anybody would have ever expected from someone with that level of power is to threaten, to popularize people's fear, and then work to intimidate, to withhold federal dollars to ensure that we can have better, stronger, safer cities.

42:00 So, you know, I don't, this was not the ideal way in which I wanted to end up on Dr. Phil, on his show, but, you know, for whatever it's worth, just know that we are not entertained, but we are very much determined to continue to ensure that working people are protected in this city. Hi, Mary. Hi. You know, earlier we heard Superintendent Snelling say, you know, we don't interfere with ICE. In the letter sent from Rep Comer, it refers to the city's policies as misguided and obstructionist.

42:36 What's your response to that language? Mary? Mary Richardson-Laurie Corporation Counsel, I respectfully disagree. We have set forth a series of guidelines within the framework of the law. We understand what the law requires of us. We understand if there's a properly issued judicial order, search warrant that is federal.

43:07 We are obligated to honor it, and we will. So I will not lean into rhetoric, but we will lean into what is required of us legally in terms of responding to the moment. So I respectfully disagree. One follow-up for you. You said you're reviewing the EOs and you're reviewing the letter and making a decision on whether or not the mayor would potentially testify. Do you have any sense of when that review would be complete?

43:39 I do not. And I don't want to proffer a timeline, as you are probably aware, there are new EOs being issued almost daily. So we are continuing to review all of those documents as well as any directives, any letters of communication, all of this ties together. And just for a level setting, each of those things affects a city and its citizenry. So we take it really serious and we have to be thorough in our analysis.

44:10 we will not genuflect even being requested. Hi, Mayor. Hi. I don't mean to be rude, but my questions are for Superintendent Snelling. You're not rude. Superintendent, there seems to be a little bit of a disconnect, and I'm hoping you can help me with this. You're saying that you don't have clear information from the federal officials about whether the people detained by ICE have been convicted of serious crimes, but you're saying that people should not live in fear

44:41 and that they should go to work and to school when folks like Tom Homan have said that if they encounter somebody who is here undocumented regardless of whether they've been convicted or even accused of a criminal offense they will be detained. How do you square that? Well, first of all, I don't necessarily understand the disconnect. I think what I was clear about was the information that's provided to us about their focus.

45:12 Right now, I know that there are other things that are being said. And when you look at the information around all of this, there's a lot of misinformation out there, bad information that's been put out there. And there are a lot of people that use this information to stoke fears. The communication that we have directly from the federal agency is that their focus would be people who are undocumented,

45:43 who have committed violent crimes and have been convicted of crimes. So that's the communication that's coming to us. What we have not seen is that we have not seen federal agents running through Chicago looking for children, going to work locations and grabbing people. So that's our communication with them. So I can't tell you the focus of everyone involved and the statements that they make.

46:19 I can't define that for you. But what I can tell you is that the communication that we have directly with the federal agencies who are here right now is that their focus has been streamlined to people who have been convicted of criminal activity. And shifting gears a little bit, one of the 1,500 or so people pardoned by President Trump for engaging in the January 6th Capitol riot was a former Chicago police officer who now says with this pardon he would like his job back with the Chicago Police Department.

46:51 Is he somebody who should be a Chicago police officer? Listen, let me let me just say this. When it comes to the Chicago Police Department, we look for people of the greatest character. This is this is the greatest police department in the world, I believe. And we have great people here. So what I'm not going to do is talk about one particular case, but we're going to make sure that we have the people who are the best of character working for this department.

47:24 Hi, thank you so much. Are you going to be rude and ask somebody else a question like that? No, I'm kidding. Go ahead. So sorry. I was actually going to start with the superintendent. Apologies. Apologies. I was really curious. And I know, superintendent, you mentioned that, you know, these federal agents are not running around and, you know, just nabbing people. But I was curious if in these operations there have been any instances in which public safety has been an issue overall for Chicagoans where your officers have had to respond to something, whether it's people feeling unsafe or any sort of public safety issue around these enforcement actions by the federal government.

48:08 That has not happened at this time. There was a dust-up Friday where people had fears about agents going to a school, which we found out was not true. And that's information that I dig into. So when the administration, when the mayor's office needs that information, it's my job to make sure that I provide it to the mayor's office. They were very responsive to the information that we pushed forward to make sure that we tackled that in a way that would bring down the fears of people.

48:44 But what I will say is this, when it comes to criminal activity, we're the Chicago Police Department. We're going to show up for our city. We're going to make sure that our citizens here and our people here, everyone who is a resident here of Chicago, we're going to make sure that they're safe. No one should be afraid to report a crime, regardless of your status. If you are the victim of a crime, domestic violence, things of that nature, come forward.

49:15 We as a Chicago Police Department, we're just going to address that crime. That's what we're here for, to keep everyone safe. That being said, if around this particular situation, if there's some violent activity, if there's criminal activity that arises out of this, we as the Chicago Police Department, we are going to respond. This is our city. We want to make sure it's safe. We need to know what's going on in this city. I have a great team who are absolutely prepared to show up and do the right thing, police constitutionally, and we're ready to do whatever is necessary to keep this city safe.

49:50 Look, when it comes to violent criminal activity, I don't care who you are. I don't care who you are. In this city. We're going to go after you. And it doesn't matter if you're a born citizen here or if you're an immigrant. If you come to our city to commit acts of violence and violent crime, we're going to show up and we're going to go after you. And once apprehended, we're going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.

50:23 That's what we're going to do to keep our city safe. And then I had one quick follow, because we've been hearing from a lot of people in the community that children are not going to school because they're afraid. And I'm wondering if there has been a dip in attendance at CPS or if there has been a dip in individuals reporting crimes because they're too afraid to come forward. Have you seen any of these things happen since the enforcement action started in Chicago?

50:55 I'll address the latter question there when it comes to the reporting. I can't provide that information for you right now because I'm really not sure we'd have to do some type of analysis on that. But with this level of fear, I'm pretty sure that there are some people who have not stepped up and reported a crime that may have been committed against them out of fear. And this is why I'm saying clearly here right now, as a Chicago Police Department, if you, you should not be afraid to report a crime that has been committed against you because of your status.

51:33 We are the Chicago Police Department. We're going to show up and we're going to respond to a crime that has been committed against someone. Okay, I'll turn it over to the mayor for the other part. For our schools and our businesses, of course, there's real fear to the extent in which people have decided to stay home. We don't have a full analysis there, but there are some families that have been reticent. We're here to reassure them that they can go and send their children to school. They should go to work. Again, what this administration is attempting to do, he is attempting to get us to surrender our humanity.

52:10 We're not going to do that in Chicago. our Deputy Mayor for Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights, Deputy Mayor for Community Safety, working with the full force of government to ensure all residents of this city will be protected. Good morning, Mayor. My question is for Superintendent Snelling. Superintendent, you kind of touched on this, but do you happen to have a number of how many people that have been detained by ICE are actually collateral damage, and how many do actually have a criminal background? I don't have those numbers, right?

52:40 So that's information that you would actually have to get from the federal agency themselves. So we don't track that. We just make sure that we know what's going on in the city so that we can keep as much peace as we can and bring down whatever fears and provide whatever information we can for the public. Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. There's been a lot of discussion about fears within certain communities over the ICE operation, And then there's some at least discussion or concern about what impact the freeze, if it's temporary on federal grants, could have on the city.

53:14 Knowing both of those things, have you considered seeking a meeting or at least a phone conversation with President Trump? Well, you know, look, the federal government withholding dollars that have been appropriated by law. Again, this is unprecedented. I've spoken with both of our United States senators, many people in our congressional delegation, who have been on Capitol Hill for years.

53:45 I mean, Senator Durbin has been there. You know, I'm sure he'll blush when I say this, but about as long as I've been alive. I mean, and even he has said that this is unprecedented. There is no script and model for this. It's dangerous. I've also said repeatedly, I'm willing to speak and meet with anyone around how we can build a better, stronger, safer Chicago, regardless of who's in the White House. I'm sure that Frederick Douglass probably bit down hard on his teeth when he had to sit across from people who did not see him as a human.

54:24 You know, if Fannie Lou Hamer can sit with individuals who beat her in a county jail. For the sake of my ancestors and for the sake of this democracy, we are prepared to meet with anyone. I mean, at some point, Jefferson Davis had to surrender to Abraham Lincoln. At some point. Our democracy requires us to show up for people. I'm always going to show up on behalf of the people of this city and for the sake of our democracy

54:54 so it sounds like you're open to it but have you directly sought out a meeting I am I'm open to having a conversation with anyone. My number hasn't changed. In fact, my number goes back so far. There are individuals that I don't even know that still have my phone number that call me and text me. Again, I have had conversations repeatedly with our congressional delegation. If the President of the United States of America wants to meet with me, I'm a phone call away. Thank you very much. I just want to clarify, you haven't reached out, but you're open to it.

55:27 Good morning, Mayor. Good morning. I want to ask you a little bit about the potential economic impact of this situation. Last week we were down in the Little Village neighborhood, the 26th Street corridor, second busiest in the city of Chicago, was virtually empty. And the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce said even before the ice raves last week they were seeing an economic impact. So many of these businesses are mom-and-pop businesses. What are your concerns about the economic impact of what's going on right now, especially in these communities? and what can the city do, if anything, to try to help them get through this?

55:59 Well, the first thing that we're doing is we're making sure, and our Deputy Mayor Beatrice Ponce de Leon already spoke to this, making sure that businesses and the community, that they know their rights. Our Chief Operations Officer working with our city agencies and all of our departments to make sure that that is blasted out. Our CTA has worked to make sure that that information is available. Our BACP acting commissioner for Department of Planning and Development, we just released $30 million into the community to continue to grow and encourage small businesses.

56:41 My $1.25 billion investment bond, the largest in the history of Chicago, those dollars that we have made available to grow businesses and to support those businesses. So that work will continue. As far as the entire economic impact, our budget director has spoken to that. I'm happy to bring her back. Please, Annette, if you want to speak more to that. But the whole point of that level of intimidation is to have that type of impact.

57:12 That's what terror does. It works to disrupt the way of life. We literally have acts of terror that are being promulgated from the federal government. That's, look, I know many of you in here enjoyed your social studies classes. As a proud social studies teacher, I can't emphasize enough not just how unprecedented this is, but what it is reminiscent of. Mark Twain said that history doesn't repeat itself, but it certainly rhymes.

57:42 Annette? Annette Goosman, budget director. And so I think there was comments made earlier about the immigration detentions having and soaking fear within communities. The letter that went out and the EOs that have come out around federal funding have also had the same impact on agencies and small businesses that receive dollars from the city of Chicago through federal funds.

58:13 And that's also causing concern. So, yes, there is a very real and deep concern from those who receive federal funding as to how this will impact their operations, how this will impact the communities that depend on those operations, and we are working with them right now. We're working with our departments who give out those dollars to better understand, you know, the direct impact. But it all comes under the framework of understanding the legality of the orders to begin with and the letters that have come out from OMB, which is what we're doing right now.

58:47 But for those restaurants and stores that are seeing their customer base just dry up right now, is there anything in the immediate short term that can be done for them? So for us, when it comes to dollars that we give out, you know, we follow the same process as Congress. We have appropriations. And so for my office, when it comes to the dollars that they've appropriated out of the city's funding, those are continuing. When it comes to the federal funds, that's what we are working through right now with our legal department to understand those executive orders and to understand the rules and the letters that came out from OMB.

59:21 But our appropriations, in the same way that I don't stop, you know, the appropriations that city council has appropriated, it's the same kind of concept that we're looking into as to whether or not these EOs have the authority over congressional spending. Good morning, Mayor. Back to the situation that happened at Hamline Elementary School last week. Alderman Jeanette Taylor is calling on you and CPS to kind of come up with a coordinated plan when ICE actually does show up.

59:52 Have you been in direct contact with Pedro Martinez about the future and what would happen? if ICE actually did show up at a school? So all of those coordinated procedures have been laid out, Deputy Mayor Gatewood? And if you can be specific on it, too. Yeah, absolutely. So we've already issued public external guidance through the Department of Law for each of our agencies to follow. CPS actually did follow it up to a point,

1:00:22 obviously not to a point of having a press conference without having confirmed information, but making sure they reach out to their general counsel and making sure that general counsel reaches out to the Department of Law. Those issues will follow. Now, obviously, we'll continue to work with CPS and all of our agencies so they can understand their roles and the procedures when federal agents, not just ICE, come into their schools or into their place of business. This is not the first time this has happened. It won't be the last time, but we'll make sure folks are prepared. And, Mayor, just a follow-up on CPS.

1:00:54 The Chicago Teachers Union is talking about a possibility of a strike vote. Since you still have control over Chicago public schools, what will you do to make sure there is not a strike on your watch? Well, the entire city of Chicago is clear about what our schools need to look like. There's no debate there, right? Clear investments to ensure that a high-quality education exists in all of our neighborhoods. That is my vision. The Board of Education has the responsibility, and now that we have a partially elected school board,

1:01:27 they have a responsibility to carry out the vision that the people of Chicago want. I'm going to continue to direct the Board of Education to lean in, to push for the full vision and scope of our public education system to be reflected of our hopes and aspirations. As all of you know, as someone who is a former employee of the Chicago Public Schools, And let me just repeat, a former employee of the Chicago Public Schools. I'm the first mayor in the history of Chicago to actually have taught. I send my children to the public schools here in Chicago because I believe in them.

1:01:59 As a parent and as a former educator, it is my hope and wish that the people of Chicago finally are able to realize what we have desired for decades. So I'm going to continue to lean into that vision. sustainable community schools, small class sizes, social workers and counselors, therapists, a full, rich curriculum that includes art and physical education. I talked to a principal the other day, I go, there's no gym in their building. They have to walk a couple of blocks just so that children can have access to physical education. These are many of the demands that have gone unmet for decades,

1:02:30 and we're going to do everything in our power to ensure that those investments are there. The last thing that I'll say is, you know, look, I've turned over our TIF dollars, The largest investment in TIFs, and with the help of our finance team, Joe Jorowski and Annette Guzman, who helped put that together, the full availability of our TIFs was turned over to our public schools because it's important to me that we have those investments. I'm going to continue to lean in on our Board of Education to ensure that that vision becomes a reality. I think following up, though, on that question is more so, will you support a strike?

1:03:04 Would you be walking with them? So I won't be, first of all, I won't be leaning into any hypotheticals. What I can say is there's a clear vision that I have for our public schools. Look, the last thing that I'll say is that we haven't had this type of alignment, I don't know, ever, where our labor partners, board members, and the mayor's office, we're all in agreement that we have to fully fund our schools. You know, I know that there has been efforts to capture more resources from the state of Illinois.

1:03:41 We appreciate the work that our legislators have done, the governor has done to increase funding, but everybody knows that across the state that we need more. And there's no harm in saying that, right? I don't think anybody should pat themselves on the back when we know that our assignment isn't complete. We have to continue our work to ensure that our public schools are fully funded, especially at a time when you have a president who has said he doesn't believe in education. He wants to dismantle the entire Department of Education. That is a threat to our existence and to our democracy. And that's why in this moment, you know, there's alignment with the board, with the mayor's office,

1:04:15 with people in Springfield, with our labor partners to ensure that every single child has access to a quality education. Could I go back to that invitation from Congress? If you believe, as you said at the beginning, that we are very proud of our welcoming city status, why do you need a legal read on that invitation it appears at first blush that you're looking for a way out of not testifying why would you not be proud to go and say this is what a sanctuary city

1:04:46 is and here's why we're going to be there well first of all i'm proud that we are a strong working class city if i if i did specify that we are proud to be a welcoming city I still mean that but what I'm what I really I was hoping to come across that we're proud of our rich history in the city of Chicago. With that, I would turn that other part over to Mary. Mary Richardson, Lori, again, Corporation Counsel. I appreciate the question, but I find it misguided.

1:05:16 That issue isn't whether or not we are proud or not proud. That's not even the question being posed in the letter. It is a legal inquiry, and we have to respond within that framework. We have to analyze it as any sitting leader and its corporation counsel would do, and then decide impact and how we respond. That's normal course, and we will treat this in that vein. But this is not a question of not being proud of our claim of status of a welcoming city ordinance,

1:05:49 nor is it a question of not being proud of our status as a sanctuary city. We're simply needing to take the communication that we've received from them and do the proper legal analysis before this mayor or anyone associated with the city responds. That kind of analysis is going on across all the cities that are recipient of said letter. We are no different. Can I just follow up? If they asked me to come, would they have to subpoena me?

1:06:20 I mean, are you trying to force that? The objective isn't to force anything. The objective is to take the letter that we've received, do the analysis, and then make any determinations as to how, when, where, and whom responds. Can I ask the superintendent to know all your questions? Of course you can. I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt your feelings. Superintendent, I was wondering if I could ask you about the Illinois Trust Act.

1:06:50 We've heard from some other law enforcement officers around the state that they feel it ties their hands. So, I guess, do you share that sentiment? Do you wish that your officers could have more of a role in these operations? Well, here's what I will tell you, and I'll answer it like this, because that's very nuanced. It's not as simple as saying that we wish that we could engage. But our officers have seen things in this city, violent crimes. And we have to be aware that when we have people who are committing violent crimes, again, whether you were born here or you're an immigrant, we don't want to see those crimes committed by anyone.

1:07:35 I think it's problematic when people come here for a better life, and there are people who are here who are working really hard, and they want a better life for their children, and they're providing for them. for someone to come in and commit heinous, heinous crimes in our city against other people. We know for a fact that migrants have been victims of these crimes themselves.

1:08:05 So as a police agency, what we want to do is make sure that we're protecting our people from violent criminals. And any time there's some type of violent action, we're not looking to just engage in immigration deportation. We're looking for those who are committing crimes in our city. Look, we have people who are citizens who we want to prosecute and not see amongst our community members because they're terrorizing our community members.

1:08:39 So we don't want anybody doing that. So sometimes it's hard for law enforcement to feel like they're not a part of engaging with our most violent criminal faction out there. So I think it's more of a protectionist mentality where we want to protect the citizens of our city. We want to protect all residents of our city. And sometimes it's hard to sit by if we think that there's someone out there who's violent that we want to help remove from the street.

1:09:17 And just as a follow up, I know you're limited by the information that you're getting from the federal government. But can you tell us of those people, the 100, exceeding 100 people that you talked about that were arrested, do you know where they're being held? Is it the five facilities that are connected to the Chicago ICE field office? Once again, I do not know. I don't have that information because it would be irresponsible for me to give you that information without any concrete proof of where people are being held. But again, even if that were the case, that's not some information that I would disseminate right now

1:09:50 because I don't want to jeopardize anything or any operation that they may be proceeding with. My questions are for you as well, Superintendent. You know, you've said you're... You're leaving it up to the federal government agencies and federal enforcement agencies to determine how many detainees have been convicted of crimes. But is that information you will be seeking so you can say with greater confidence that people without criminal backgrounds don't have to live in fear? Is that information you're going to want to obtain? So here's what I'll tell you.

1:10:21 It's not that that's what we allow them to do. That's actually their operation. It's not ours, right? So as the federal government operates, what they provide to us, yeah, we would like information. We would like more information if we could get it. But again, as an agent of law enforcement, we understand why some information can't be shared. So I'm going to respect that. However, what I can tell you is what we're seeing right now at the time and the information that we're getting from the agency.

1:10:56 And right now, the information that we're getting is that the focus is on people who have criminal convictions. Any other information beyond that, you would have to seek from the agency themselves. So, again, I'm not going to say too much about what's going on. And sometimes I may have more information that I just can't necessarily share to the public because, again, we don't want people using that to stoke fears in people. But I do believe and I don't want to tell parents what to do. I don't want to act like I know what they're going through or what they feel.

1:11:34 But we do know fear is real and feelings are never wrong. But sometimes the information around why you feel that way, maybe. So we want to do whatever we can to keep people as calm as we can in this city and just to let them know that as the leading law enforcement agency in this city, that we're going to do everything that we can to protect the people in this city. Can you share any more about the type of communication you're having with federal enforcement agencies?

1:12:05 Do you know what locations they're targeting ahead of time, or what information are you getting before these arrests happen? So we don't get exact locations of where they're going and what they're doing, but we do have a general area of where they're going to be working. That information is important to us because as they work, we want to make sure that if we have to respond, that we know where we're going to respond. This helps us to decide how many people we're going to have working and how they're going to work in that location.

1:12:39 So it's about availability of our officers to respond to situations just in case something gets volatile, just in case something goes wrong. Again, this is still the city of Chicago. We're the Chicago Police Department, and we're going to respond to make sure that we keep the calm as much as we can. Superintendent Selene, just to go back to those numbers, you know, of those over 100 people detained in the Chicagoland area, do you know how many of those people had criminal arrest warrants? For example, Bloomberg News is reporting 260 people were targeted in Chicago on Sunday, but just seven had criminal arrest warrants.

1:13:12 Can you confirm any of those numbers? That I cannot confirm because we don't have that information. And a lot of times, information is put out there. We know sometimes things are printed. We don't necessarily know if those things are true. So I can't back up any of that information right now because, again, we deal with what they share with us at this time. Our concern again right now is to make sure that the city is safe and that people feel a level of calm We know that there's fear through the city and we know that when people hear those types of reports

1:13:46 It just adds to the fear So we want to make sure and I want to make sure that we give you the most accurate information that we possibly can But I can't stand here and give you information that I have not confirmed with my own eyes So it's not even just word of mouth. I actually need to see documentation and paperwork to just stand here and say, well, I heard this or this is what someone told me. I'm not going to convey that information until I have proven that myself. And Mayor Johnson, will the Chicago be taking any legal action, you know, against the immigration raids, such as joining the federal lawsuit that immigration advocacy orgs have already filed?

1:14:25 Thank you, Mary. Mary Richardson-Larry Corporation Council. We continue to analyze our legal options across all EOs, directives, and communications. We won't forecast them in advance, but if we do take said action, you will likely read about it and write about it. Thank you all very much.

1:14:55 Hopefully write about it first.

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