Pritzker says DHS secretary’s threat to withhold customs-processing resources in sanctuary cities would hurt Chicago economy
Gov. JB Pritzker strongly pushed back against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s suggestion this week to not provide customs-processing resources to sanctuary cities like Chicago.
“We ought to continue to demand that the Republicans fund TSA and fund the things that we need in order to keep the economy running,” Pritzker said Friday at an unrelated news conference. “If they take this away, they’re going to hurt the economy even more.”
In an appearance Monday on Fox News, Mullin questioned whether cities with sanctuary rules — which prohibit city workers from cooperating with federal immigration agencies — should be “processing customs into their city.” Federal agencies under DHS handle customs processing for travelers.
“If they’re a sanctuary city and are receiving international flights and we’re asking them to partner with us at the airport, but once they walk out of the airport they’re not going to enforce immigration policy — maybe we need to have a really hard look at that because we need to focus on cities that want to work with us,” Mullin said.
Mullin’s comments came as DHS is under its longest shutdown over a dispute about funding for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Transportation Security Administration was caught up in the budget impasse for weeks, with workers calling out leading to long security lines at major airports. Pay for TSA workers has since been reinstated despite the ongoing DHS shutdown.
When asked by Fox News host Bret Baier if Mullin’s comments meant he would withhold customs-processing funding from sanctuary cities, Mullin said, “We’re going to have to start prioritizing things at some point.”
“I’m going to have to be forced to make hard decisions,” Mullin said. “Who’s willing to work with us and partner with us?”
The Trump administration has singled out Chicago and other Democratic-led cities for their sanctuary policies. Chicago was among several cities targeted last year in Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign.