Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem is going to call for Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and other leaders in the state to “abandon” sanctuary policies, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
During a press conference in Springfield, Illinois, on Wednesday, Noem will call for a “return to law and order” and for Illinois officials to “put the safety of Americans first.”
Noem will be joined by the Angel family of Denny McCann, who was killed in June 2011 in Chicago after Saul Chavez, an illegal alien, allegedly hit and dragged McCann “nearly 300 feet to his death in a drunk-driving crash.”
The family of Marine Lance Corporal James Ray Walden III, who was killed when a twice-deported illegal alien reportedly crashed into Walden’s motorcycle, will also attend the press conference.
“I am calling upon Governor Pritzker, and other leaders in the state of Illinois, to abandon these dangerous sanctuary policies,” Noem said in a statement provided to Breitbart News exclusively ahead of the event. “We need to return to law and order and put the safety of Americans first.”
ICE Boston has arrested an illegal Ecuadoran national charged with more than 20 sex crimes against a MINOR.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) April 11, 2025
Does Boston’s Mayor Michelle Wu think these pedophiles are above the law? Imagine what our ICE officers could do without Sanctuary City policies that protect illegal… pic.twitter.com/eHtOIWqgMz
Noem’s press conference comes as the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been pressuring sanctuary cities and states to stop obstructing federal immigration law, Breitbart News’s Warner Todd Huston reported:
As the administration of President Donald Trump continues to ramp up its policy of mass deportations of criminal illegals, the DOJ is also moving to pressure sanctuary cities in deep-blue Democrat states to stop their obstruction of immigration enforcement.
In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi sued the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago over sanctuary city policies, labeling them as unlawful.
“Both the Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker and Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson, sued here in their official capacities, profess a shared interest with the Federal Government in enforcing immigration laws to effectuate the removal of such offenders from the United States,” the lawsuit said. “The challenged provisions of Illinois, Chicago, and Cook County law reflect their intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and to impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe.”
In an interview on NewsNation Now in February, Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez labeled claims from Illinois officials that sanctuary policies were not preventing the federal government from going after criminals as not matching reality.
“The rhetoric doesn’t match reality, whether it’s coming from Pritzker, whether it’s coming from County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, or Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson,” Lopez said. “All of them say that nothing stops the federal government from going after those individuals. Yet, when immigration detainers are given to state prisons, they are ignored. When the Cook County Jail is asked to release individuals into federal custody whom we know are noncitizens and are dangers to our community, it goes unanswered.”
