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President Donald Trump declared victory in Chicago after a weeks-long showdown with pro-sanctuary Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson over immigration enforcement operations in the city.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday night, Trump wrote, “I am proud to announce that Chicago, Illinois, despite all of the radical opposition and obstruction we have from the Mayor and the Governor, has seen Car Theft, Shootings, Robberies, Violent Crime, and everything else, drop dramatically.”
Trump said that since the launch of the immigration enforcement push, dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” by the Department of Homeland Security, “shootings are down 35%, Robberies are down 41%, and Carjackings are down almost 50%.”
He noted that these numbers follow “just a small initial Federal Force, not the full ‘surge’” of federal resources.
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“As we ramp up more assets, these numbers will continue to drop,” he added.
All this, Trump said, “has been achieved despite the extraordinary resistance from Chicago and Illinois Radical Democrat ‘Leadership,’ and the constant Violent Leftwing Terrorism against ICE Officers and Federal Agents that Insurrectionist Democrat Officials refuse to stop or prosecute, including constant physical assault and attempted assassination.”
Launched on Sept. 8, Operation Midway Blitz has seen federal law enforcement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and others flood the Chicago area, resulting in thousands of illegals being arrested, including violent criminals and gang members.
The operation, however, has simultaneously been met with fierce resistance from Pritzker, Johnson and members of the public. There have been several instances of violent confrontations with members of the public attempting to interfere with operations, including people blocking ICE vehicles, ramming federal officials and shooting at Border Patrol agents.
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The shooting happened Saturday in the city’s Little Village neighborhood as federal agents were conducting immigration enforcement operations. An illegal immigrant with a criminal history has since been arrested in connection with the shooting. The unidentified suspect, a Mexican citizen, was in a Jeep that drove up near the agents and fired shots before driving away, federal sources told Fox News. At the time of his arrest, he was found with a firearm, sources said.
“This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of violence and obstruction,” a Department of Homeland Security statement said. “Over the past two months, we’ve seen an increase in assaults and obstruction targeting federal law enforcement during operations. These confrontations highlight the dangers our agents face daily and the escalating aggression toward law enforcement.”
Pritzker, meanwhile, has continued to criticize the federal agents conducting the operations.
Commenting on a picture of Border Patrol officials posing in front of Chicago’s famous “Bean” sculpture, Pritzker said, “Making fun of our neighborhoods and communities is disgusting.”
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Pritzker said that U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino “and his masked agents are not here to make Chicago safer” and “as children are tear gassed and U.S. citizens detained, they are posing for photo ops and producing reality TV moments.”
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Johnson signed a mayoral executive order in October establishing “ICE-free zones” by prohibiting the use of city parking lots and garages for civil immigration enforcement staging areas, processing locations or operations bases.
Fox News Digital reached out to Pritzker and Johnson for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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