Tag Archives: Mayor Brandon Johnson

Forgetting History

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On Wednesday, Jonathan Turley posted an article about President Trump using the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) to deal with illegal immigrants in our major cities. Using federal forces to enforce law and order is not a new concept.

The article reports:

As a native Chicagoan, I must confess that I have little patience for Mayor Brandon Johnson, a politician who has been a disaster for the city. One of the most unpopular mayors in the city’s history, Johnson has been using the increased ICE operations to try to ride a wave of rage back into popularity. His language has become more and more inflammatory in calling for citizens to “resist” and “fight” federal law enforcement. Now, he is claiming the authority to not only mandate “ICE-free zones” in the city but to arrest federal officers.

Ironically, Johnson has declared that President Donald Trump wants a “rematch of the Civil War.” However, it is Johnson who is pursuing antebellum policies. It was the South that claimed independence from the Union and fought to expel federal troops.

Johnson signed a ridiculous executive order creating “ICE-Free Zones” to ban federal agents from using city-owned properties and property of unwilling private owners as staging areas for immigration enforcement.

The federal government has its own jurisdictional authority and can enter city and private property in pursuit of lawful operations. In terms of “staging” operations, the Constitution, not Brandon Johnson, protects citizens from having their property seized or used for the quartering of troops.

Most importantly, the City of Chicago cannot arrest federal officers who are conducting federal operations. This point was correctly noted earlier by Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, who said that CPD officers will not arrest federal law enforcement, “because someone deems what they are doing is illegal.”

Nevertheless, Johnson was back to his signature chest-pounding bravado: “We’re going to see people in court. As far as other authority that allows for us to be able to enforce this ordinance, we’re exploring.”

This is posturing by someone who wants to be re-elected.

The article concludes:

Threatening the arrest of federal officers enforcing federal law is not defending the rule of law or democracy. Indeed, a similar claim was made by Southern politicians not only before the Civil War but during the Civil Rights era. It was governors like George Wallace who insisted that he could stop federal officials and the National Guard from enforcing federal law.

Likewise, it was George Wallace who objected to the “unwelcomed, unwanted, unwarranted, and force-induced intrusion” in his state by federal law enforcement.

Before Johnson attempts to arrest federal officials, he might want to take another look at the Constitution and review some history on the subject. Wallace also tried to ride the wave of rage to power after “standing at the schoolhouse door in person, if necessary.” It did not work. The federal government prevailed, and Wallace was left as a tragic relic of history.

Who does the Mayor think is paying for the illegal aliens in his city? If the taxpayers are smart, they will quickly vote him out of office.

This Is Not Legal

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The open border and the flood of illegal immigrants has hit many of our major cities hard. Those cities are trying to feed, house, and provide medical care for thousands of new residents–sometimes at the expense of the American citizens who already live there. Recent events in Chicago illustrate the problem.

On Tuesday, Breitbart reported:

Chicago’s Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson recently touted his efforts to bestow $18 million exclusively to “black and brown” businesses to feed the thousands of illegal border crossers the city is housing.

Johnson’s administration partnered with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, BJ’s Market, and other nonprofits by diverting the huge sum to minority-owned businesses, according to WFLD-TV.

During a press conference on the partnership, the “sanctuary city” mayor celebrated the program, applauding “black and brown businesses” as the “soul” of Chicago.

“The $17 million investment for these 18 black and brown small businesses, is really the, um… it really captures what I call the soul of Chicago. It’s who we are,” Johnson told the media.

It may be who you are, but I believe it is illegal under the Civil Rights Law to discriminate on the basis of color. Are we now going to have to pass laws prohibiting discrimination against white people?

The article concludes:

Johnson has faced backlash from his own constituency over the billions of dollars he has diverted to give illegals free housing, free food, free clothing, free education, free healthcare, free legal advice, and any manner of freebies that have been denied the Windy City’s black population.

 

Ignoring The Root Of The Problem

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On Saturday, The Daily Wire posted an article about Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s announcement of a partnership with a far-left non-profit to advance his proposal of a government-owned grocery store, which he argues is needed for the sake of “racial justice.”

The article reports:

Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a press release this month that the city-owned grocery store — which would be the largest of its kind in the U.S. — is needed to address the exit of corporate grocery stores and promote “food equity.”

“[F]ood access and security link directly to environmental and racial justice,” Johnson’s office said in a press release, adding that “37% of Black residents and 29% of Latine/x residents are food insecure, compared to 19% of residents overall.”

The mayor’s office argued that “historic disinvestment has led to inequitable access to food retail across Chicago,” and noted that “existing inequities have been exacerbated as at least six grocery stores closed on the South and West sides over the past two years.”

Indeed, as Chicago continues to reel with violent crime and large-scale theft, corporate grocery stores like Walmart and Amazon-owned Whole Foods have recently packed up and left Chicago.

There  is so much here that is totally backwards. Does anyone trust the city of Chicago to run a grocery store without major corruption? Has anyone noticed that the lack of grocery stores in some areas could be changed by enforcing laws that would prevent crime in those areas? How about leaving criminals in jail so that the citizens of Chicago are safe?

For example, Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in America. However, in 2022, Chicago topped 600 homicides and 2,600 shootings in 2022, according to new Chicago Police Department data (source here). I suspect if Chicago dealt with the crime problem the lack-of-grocery-stores problem might solve itself.

The article concludes:

“We are not spending any taxpayer dollars, right?” she told CBS Chicago. “What we’re also going to be able to access is the funding that exists at the national level and the state level.”

Moreover, the mayor’s office has already acknowledged that this project, if completed, will also use economic grant money, which, too, comes from taxpayers.

Critics have said this grocery store proposal is akin to “Soviet-style central planning.” Detractors have also highlighted the city’s penchant for corruption and the city’s half-a-billion dollar deficit to question how the store could be efficient. There are also still questions about how prices would be set, how this would be superior to private grocery stores, and how it would affect private enterprise.

We all need to remember that grant money comes from taxpayers. There really is no free lunch!