Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, joined Chicago’s Morning Answer to discuss Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s escalating feud with federal immigration authorities and the growing conflict between sanctuary jurisdictions and ICE operations in the state.
Krikorian likened the defiance of federal immigration law in Chicago to 19th-century acts of state nullification. “This is basically what South Carolina did before the Civil War—refusing to enforce federal law and provoking confrontation,” he said. “The difference now is that it’s progressive politicians doing it under the banner of compassion.” He argued that immigration enforcement is a national concern, not a local one, and that Chicago’s refusal to cooperate with ICE undermines public safety across the country.
Responding to claims that deportation efforts should focus only on violent criminals, Krikorian said that every illegal immigrant is technically deportable and that most have committed additional offenses beyond unlawful entry. “Illegal immigrants working under false IDs commit tax fraud, perjury, and identity theft,” he said. “It’s not just one victimless act—it’s a chain of violations.”
Krikorian also pushed back on the idea that ICE’s 70/30 arrest ratio—where 70 percent of those detained have additional criminal charges—means the agency is targeting harmless individuals. “That number would be higher if sanctuary cities like Chicago let ICE into their jails,” he said. “Instead, agents are forced into neighborhoods to make arrests, which is more dangerous for everyone.”
The discussion turned to a recent case involving a Chicago-area father detained by ICE while his teenage daughter battles stage-four cancer. Krikorian acknowledged the human tragedy but argued that sympathy cannot override the rule of law. “It’s awful, but he’s been here illegally for 20 years,” he said. “We can’t keep making exceptions because the system breaks down when the law becomes optional.”
He added that selective enforcement and judicial leniency have eroded public trust. “We need discretion in immigration law, but that discretion has been abused for decades,” Krikorian said. “When flexibility turns into ignoring the law, you end up with the chaos we have now.”
Krikorian concluded that the Biden administration’s lax border policies created the crisis, and that the current enforcement push under Trump’s second term is an attempt to restore order. “The left wants a one-way ratchet—open the borders, let millions in, and then block deportations by declaring them off-limits,” he said. “That’s not compassion; that’s lawlessness disguised as morality.”