Tag Archives: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot

When You Declare Yourself A Sanctuary City, But…

Posted on by

On Monday, The Western Journal posted an article about how Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot deals with immigrants after declaring Chicago a sanctuary city.

The article reports:

The word “hypocrisy” is being bandied about in reference to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot after she shunted illegal immigrants to a suburban after initially saying they were welcome in her city.

This summer, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott decided that Democrat-run cities that support illegal immigration by calling themselves sanctuary cities should share in the flood of illegal immigrants crowing the border. As such, Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C., have seen busloads of illegal immigrants arrive.

When the first busload of illegal immigrants arrived, Lightfoot called the moment an important episode in Chicago’s history.

“This is such an important moment for Chicago as our city has been a sanctuary for thousands of newcomers. We are welcoming them and we will not turn our backs on those who need our help the most,” Lightfoot said in a statement, according to WMAQ-TV.

“We understand that many are fleeing violent, traumatic, or otherwise unstable environments,” the statement said. “We will respond with essential services while these individuals navigate the next steps of their journey and our community partners have been working diligently to provide a safety net.”

Lightfoot bashed Abbott for not working with her.

However, that was not the end of the story:

But lo and behold, 64 of 175 illegal immigrants sent to Chicago were soon sent to a Hampton Inn in the suburb of Burr Ridge with no notice to local officials.

“I am concerned neither the village administrator nor I were told about this,” Burr Ridge Mayor Gary Grasso said, according to WGN-TV. “We want to know: Why Burr Ridge?”

“Neither village elected officials nor staff were consulted or contacted about this decision and we are now gathering information to keep our community updated,” he said to WMAQ.

Grasso also said it was hypocritical for Lightfoot to criticize Abbott for sending illegal immigrants up north and then ship them out to his community, according to Fox News.

If Chicago wants to be a sanctuary city, and the voters keep electing a mayor who wants it to be, there is no problem. However, if Chicago claims to be a sanctuary city and then sends those seeking sanctuary to the suburbs without the knowledge or consent of the people and their leaders living there, is Chicago really a sanctuary city? How is what Lori Lightfoot doing any different than what Governor Abbott is doing (other than the fact that Governor Abbott does not claim that Texas is a sanctuary state)?

The Inmates Are Running The Asylum

Posted on by

Yesterday The New York Post reported:

Police officers in Chicago may soon require permission from a supervisor before pursuing a suspect on foot, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Tuesday.

Lightfoot promised to disclose details “soon” about a police policy change, Fox 32 Chicago reported.

“No one should die as a result of a foot chase,” the mayor said.

Police methods have faced new scrutiny recently following the release last week of video footage from the March 29 police shooting death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo. The case has sparked new debate on police use of deadly force.

City Alderman Brian Hopkins told FOX 32 that city police already need a superior’s permission to launch a vehicle chase for a suspect. A new policy on foot chases would simply make the same policy apply to all chases.

At least the City Alderman acknowledged what the result of that policy might be:

Hopkins acknowledged the most obvious criticism that such a policy would likely attract: that a suspect on foot could be long gone in the time it would take an officer to get the required approval.

This sort of thinking does not make our cities safer–it makes them more dangerous. If a bank robber has a getaway car a block away and can outrun the officer, he is home free.

The death of Adam Toledo is tragic, but there are still a few facts that have to be considered when evaluating the situation. What was a 13-year old doing out a 2 am? Why did a 13-year old have a gun? Was the 13-year old a gang member? Did the 13-year old act in a way that was a threat to the policeman’s life?

I truly believe that the first problem we have to deal with is the 13-year old probable gang member out on the street at 2 am. I suspect that if we deal with that problem, many other problems will be solved.