Pritzker urges calm ahead of ICE raids over Halloween weekend

BROADVIEW, Ill. (NewsNation) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said immigration enforcement will continue in Chicago over the Halloween weekend, rejecting Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s request to pause operations.

Calling the request a nonstarter, Noem insisted agents were targeting violent offenders and would not offer a safe window for people to hide.

"We're absolutely not willing to put on pause any work that we will do to keep communities safe," Noem said during a Thursday news conference in nearby Gary, Indiana. "The fact that Gov. Pritzker is asking for that is shameful. I think it’s unfortunate he doesn’t recognize how important the work that we do is to make sure we’re bringing criminals to justice.”

Pritzker argued Illinois families deserve to spend the holiday weekend without fear.

Volunteers were expected to attend Halloween events in the city to alert residents to the presence of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

DHS releases new video of Halloween parade operation

The tension follows a recent DHS operation in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood, where agents used tear gas and made arrests as families walked to a nearby Halloween parade last weekend.

A federal judge who limited the agency’s use of force said the incident likely “shattered” children’s sense of safety.

The agency argued agents were boxed in by a group of agitators who ignored multiple warnings to back up, adding that the operation resulted in the arrest of a man from Mexico in the country illegally.

High-speed chase ends at high school

In a separate incident, a high-speed chase ended at a high school in the Chicago suburb of Gurnee, where two suspects accused of being in the U.S. illegally were taken into federal custody.

In response to the arrests, the Department of Homeland Security said its agents do not target schools but will act when public safety is at risk.

“These two criminal illegal aliens recklessly endangered the public by starting a highspeed car chase and then driving onto school grounds, possibly to seek protection since they are 'ICE Free Zones,'” DHS said in a statement obtained by NewsNation affiliate WGN.

Pentagon orders ‘quick reaction force’

The Pentagon has ordered the National Guard to form a “quick reaction force” of roughly 23,500 troops trained in crowd control and urban response, according to a leaked memo reported by multiple outlets on Wednesday.

The memo orders the Guard from nearly every U.S. state, plus Puerto Rico and Guam, to train 500 service members on crowd control, shields, batons and rapid urban deployment. States with smaller populations, such as Delaware, will have 250 troops in their forces, while Alaska will have 350, and Guam will have 100, Task & Purpose reported. 

That plan could allow federal reinforcements to move quickly if unrest breaks out, for example, near an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, the site of multiple protests in recent weeks. Pritzker has previously called such federal deployments unconstitutional.