Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson reprimanded a reporter during a press briefing on Friday after the term “illegal aliens” was used in a question, with the mayor slamming the phrase as “racist” and “nasty.”
The confrontation, captured in a video posted to the mayor’s official Instagram account on Saturday, occurred when a reporter inquired about a city spending report related to “illegal aliens” that the city was reportedly required to file with the White House.
Mayor Johnson immediately pushed back on the language. “We don’t have illegal aliens,” Johnson stated. “I don’t know if that’s from some sort of sci-fi message that you wish you’ve had… Well listen, the legal term for my people were slaves. You want me to use that term too? So, look, let’s just get the language right. We’re talking about undocumented individuals that are human beings.”
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The Democratic mayor added that he would not “accept that type of racist, nasty language to describe human beings.”
Following the rebuke, Johnson pivoted to discussing his administration’s $16.7 billion budget, emphasizing investments in education, transportation, housing, environmental justice, youth employment, and community safety. “And we are going to challenge the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share,” Johnson asserted.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who was present, backed the mayor’s stance, arguing that immigration violations are civil, not criminal, matters. “It is very important that people in Illinois and across the country understand the immigration system is a civil system,” Jayapal said. “Undocumented presence in the United States is not a criminal offense. And so thank you for the clarification on language.”
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Mayor Johnson has been a vocal defender of Chicago’s immigration policies and a critic of President Donald Trump’s approach to border enforcement and crime. Last month, he condemned the focus on incarceration, saying, “Jails and incarceration and law enforcement is a sickness that has not led to safe communities.”
The exchange comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues “Operation Midway Blitz” in Illinois, an initiative launched in honor of a woman killed in a drunk driving hit-and-run allegedly caused by an undocumented individual.
Last week, DHS dubbed a recent day of the operation “one of the most violent days,” with the arrest of three undocumented individuals and six U.S. citizens in the Chicago area. DHS stated the goal of the operation is to “target criminal illegal aliens terrorizing Americans in sanctuary Illinois.”
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