CHICAGO – Sunday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel emphasized to reporters that despite President-elect Donald Trump's promised efforts that once in office, immigrants with criminal backgrounds would be deported, Chicago will defy federal laws and protect criminals from being sent out of the country.
"Chicago has been a city of immigrants since it was founded," he said. "Since the presidential election, there has been a sense of uncertainty among many immigrant communities in Chicago and across the nation. I want to assure all of our families that Chicago is and will remain a Sanctuary City."
As a sanctuary city and county, law enforcement in both Chicago and surrounding Cook County are currently banned from asking arrestees if they are in the country illegally. That practice will continue in Chicago and Cook County, Emanuel said, despite Trump's efforts to oust those with criminal records.