Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is “missing the point” by blaming federal agents for a deadly confrontation in Franklin Park, where ICE officers fatally shot an illegal immigrant who hit one agent with his vehicle, former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told Newsmax on Sunday.
“Well, absolutely. I think the mayor misses the point,” Wolf said on Newsmax’s Sunday Report. “Time and time again, when it comes to immigration enforcement, the only individual that is making Chicago more and more unsafe by the day is the mayor with his continued sanctuary city policies.”
Johnson, he added, “is telling the citizens and the residents of Chicago, to include illegal aliens that are there, that federal law enforcement folks coming in just trying to enforce the law are a credible threat.”
Wolf said the rhetoric not only confuses residents, but also emboldens migrants by painting federal officers as villains.
“Most Americans look at Chicago, look at the mayor there and just shake their heads and say, what’s going on?” he added.
Wolf stressed the dangers ICE officers face daily.
“These individuals put on a badge and a weapon, they don’t know if they’re going to return to their families,” he said. “What we need is mayors actually cooperating with federal law enforcement and not trying to work against them.”
Former acting ICE Director John Torres echoed those concerns, pointing to rising hostility toward agents.
“Threats against ICE agents [are] up over 1,000% now,” Torres said. “As mayors and other local politicians and party leaders are villainizing ICE and calling them Gestapo, calling them basically Nazis, they are giving permission to people that are watching this to react in this type of manner.”
Turning to the broader fight against drug cartels, Wolf said President Donald Trump is backing up his warnings with decisive action.
“I think President Trump has been very clear with the American people. All options are on the table, as they should be when it comes to protecting Americans,” he explained.
Wolf pointed to narcotics, human trafficking, and terrorist ties from South America as urgent threats.
“The status quo is not acceptable any longer. Things are going to change,” he said. “[Trump is] not only making sure he’s protecting Americans, but he’s also sending a signal to others to say enough is enough. We’re not going to just continue to accept this as the status quo. Instead, we’re going to take active measures and, in some cases, kinetic measures to protect the American people.”
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