(The Center Square) – President-elect Donald Trump is planning to declare a national emergency to begin mass deportation operations. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he thinks that’s unconstitutional and illegal.
On Truth Social, Trump said “True!!!” to a post from Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton about reports the incoming administration is “prepared to declare a national emergency and use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”
At an unrelated event in Joliet Monday, Pritzker said he was alarmed to see Trump looking to declare a national emergency to make way for mass deportations.
“We of course are deeply concerned about the President of the United States calling out the military inside the United States where people are peaceful even if there may be people that are undocumented,” Pritzker said. “The idea of calling out the army into the domestic confines of the United States … seems uncalled for and may in fact be unconstitutional and illegal.”
Pritzker didn’t mention the continued “Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation for Asylum Seekers” he declared for Illinois beginning in September 2022.
“In the interest of aiding the people of Illinois and the local governments responsible for ensuring public health, safety and welfare, Governor JB Pritzker has declared the state of Illinois as a disaster area allowing the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to implement the State Emergency Operations Plan, coordinate State resources, and aid with emergency purchases necessary for response,” Pritzker’s proclamation states. “Illinois Department of Human Services will serve as the lead agency in this effort.”
The most recent proclamation was issued Nov. 8, 2024.
Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration in 2021, more than 14 million individuals have crossed into the country illegally. A previously released report from Immigration and Customs Enforcement highlighted there are 660,000 criminal foreign nationals identified to be deported.
Of that, nearly 15,000 have been convicted or charged with murder, more than 20,000 charged with sexual assault, 105,000 with assault, 3,300 with kidnapping and nearly 4,000 with crimes including sex trafficking.
A new report published by the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security states that “foreign jihadist networks and homegrown violent extremists” represent a “persistent terror threat to America.”
The states where jihadist cases were identified include Illinois.
Illinois has received nearly 50,000 non-citizen migrants since August 2022, costing taxpayers more than $1 billion for food, shelter, health care, education and legal services.
Last week, Illinois Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said it’s best for Pritzker to collaborate with Trump.
“Right after the election, [Pritzker] gets out in front and tells Illinoisans he’s not going to work with the administration and he’s going to stand in the way and obstruct the administration that was just elected, it is likely going to be met with a response from the incoming administration,” Curran said last week. “You’re gonna get a lot further working with the administration than you are being an obstructionist.”
Illinois legislators return Tuesday to the state Capitol in Springfield to finish out veto session. What Democrats will do to brace for an incoming Trump administration isn’t yet clear.
Last week, Pritzker couldn’t say what policies legislators should pass to counter any Trump policies Democrats disfavor.
“I haven’t heard anything that has to be addressed right now during this veto session,” Pritzker said Wednesday. “Having said that, there is time to be able to do that before the Jan. 20, inauguration.”
State Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, said Democrats need to work with Republicans to recouple the state’s tax code with whatever may be coming from the Republican-controlled Congress, and work on state and local tax deductions, operating losses, the estate tax and other policies.
“And we also need to be preparing ourselves for the likely adjustments of not taxing tips and overtime wages,” Spain said. “These are the things that we should be working together on now to prepare ourselves for new realities in Washington D.C.”
Republicans remain in the super minority of both chambers of the statehouse for the 104th General Assembly to be seated in mid-January.
Bethany Blankley contributed to this report.
