EXCLUSIVE: Top officials in the Trump administration mocked Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the state of Illinois' lawsuit against the Trump administration over immigration enforcement activities, calling out apparent hypocrisy in their reading of the Constitution.
Earlier this week, Chicago and Illinois teamed up to file a federal suit challenging what they called "illegal actions" by federal immigration agents, including interrogating people on their citizenship status without basis, deploying "noxious chemicals" in public and making civil-law arrests without warrants.
A top DHS official remarked that Democrats suddenly embraced federalism, after previously seeking to grab new control of numerous aspects of Americans' lives when they had power in Washington.
"It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the 10th Amendment when they don't want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law," Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
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"[That] is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the supremacy clause."
The 10th Amendment prescribes that any power not explicitly delegated to or prohibited by the federal government via the Constitution is a power of the individual states or the people themselves.
"Then [they] go right back to federalizing every state responsibility possible when they get back in power: Spare us," she said.
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McLaughlin said Chicago and Springfield should instead be honoring the lives of those lost to violence committed by illegal immigrants, citing a young woman named Katie Abraham killed in a DUI wreck by a Guatemalan national who was in the country illegally.
DHS previously dedicated Operation Midway Blitz to Abraham, who was driving to visit the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign when she was struck by Julio Cucul-Bol.
Cucul-Bol initially fled the scene and later self-identified as a Mexican upon apprehension, but authorities eventually confirmed his real name, according to NPR.
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"The fact is that sanctuary politicians in Illinois and Chicago released violent criminals including murderers, rapists, drug dealers, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists, onto its streets and their dereliction of duty cost lives-just ask Katie Abraham's father," McLaughlin said.
"This is a baseless lawsuit, and we look forward to proving that in court."
The White House was equally defiant in the face of the suit, with spokesperson Abigail Jackson telling Fox News Digital that if Chicago leaders cared as much about protecting Americans "from criminal aliens as they did about defending the criminal illegal aliens, Chicagoans would be much better off."
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Jackson called the suit by Johnson and Illinois Democratic Attorney General Kwame Raoul a "pathetic stunt" that "only proves that Democrats will put illegal criminals over hardworking Americans every time."
According to Johnson's office, the lawsuit is challenging what the city called the feds' "arbitrary enforcement actions at or near sensitive locations like schools and shelters."
The case also seeks to scrutinize alleged DHS trespassing on local government-owned property and alleges the White House has implemented policies to coerce [Illinois and Chicago] to abandon their policies which value and respect immigrants, and devote their resources to further the immigration policies of the current administration."
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Johnson called DHS' actions "cruel" and said the Trump administration "repeatedly violated the law and undermined public trust."
"Nobody is above the law," the mayor added, noting the suit seeks to prevent the feds from continuing their practices.
Raoul said in a statement that Border Patrol and ICE are acting "as occupiers rather than officers of the law."
"I filed this lawsuit to stand up for the safety of the people of Illinois and the sovereignty of our state."
Chicago city law department counsel Mary Richardson-Lowry added that her legal team has "compiled substantial evidence of these unlawful actions."
"We will pursue every remedy available to safeguard the public," Richardson-Lowry said.
