Pritzker: Noem should ‘no longer be able to step foot in Illinois’ without press conference, ahead of reported Friday visit

CHICAGO, Ill. (WTVO) — Citing media reports that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would be visiting on Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker said Noem “should no longer be able to step foot inside the State of Illinois” without accountability for “the Trump Administration’s gross misconduct.”

Pritzker’s office issued a demand that Noem hold a public press conference “upon learning through media sources that Secretary Krisit Noem is visiting Illinois.”

Pritzker cited media reports pointing to Noem’s visit Friday, but DHS has not confirmed whether the Secretary will be visiting Illinois

“Federal agents reporting to Secretary Noem have spent weeks snatching up families, scaring law-abiding residents, violating due process rights, and even detaining U.S. citizens. They fail to focus on violent criminals and instead create panic in our communities,” Pritzker said in a statement.

“Last time when the secretary was here, she snuck in during the early morning to film social media videos and fled before sunrise. It’s been nearly 45 days since Secretary Noem has held an official press conference, so it’s time she faces the public and takes questions from the press,” he added.

DHS on Wednesday said its ongoing “Operation Midway Blitz” had arrested over 800 criminal illegal aliens in Illinois, despite both the state’s sanctuary policies and violent protests.

Earlier this week, Pritzker told reporters U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement’s operations in Chicago have nothing to do with law and order. The governor accused federal agents of shaking down citizens for “not being white.”

Tensions have escalated near a federal building in Broadview, which has become an ICE detention facility. On Friday, activists and elected officials are expected to hold a news conference to demand the removal of a fence erected around the facility without a permit, officials said.

There, protesters have clashed with federal agents, with tear gas and pepper balls being deployed.

On Thursday night, a designated “protest zone” was established outside the facility, with concrete barriers in place to keep clashes at a minimum. The Illinois State Police released a map Thursday night showing a restricted area and a lane that allows emergency vehicles. ISP officers will be on-site to help direct people.

Last weekend, ICE agents in tactical gear were seen patrolling downtown areas, including Michigan Avenue, the Riverwalk, and near Trump Tower.

Pritzker has maintained that current ICE operations are a provocation, hoping to enflame a violent response so that President Donald Trump can send the military to Chicago, under the pretext of supporting federal agents.

“It’s a pretext for bringing troops into the city and normalizing the militarization of our cities, and we just won’t allow that,” Pritzker said during a Sept. 29 press conference.