The Mexican consul in Chicago said that immigrants are flocking to the Windy City before Donald Trump becomes president because Chicago is a sanctuary city, according to a report Tuesday in El Financiero.
Carlos Martin Jimenez was speaking at a recent gathering of Mexican ambassadors and consuls in Mexico City and said that Mexicans in Indiana and Wisconsin are coming to the Chicago consulate due to it being a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has vowed to not comply with federal immigration officers heading into the Trump administration. “To all those who are, after Tuesday’s election, very nervous and filled with anxiety as we’ve spoken to, you are safe in Chicago, you are secure in Chicago and you are supported in Chicago,” Emanuel said in December.
He added, “Chicago will always be a sanctuary city.” Trump has said he will punish sanctuary cities and House Republicans have introduced a bill to block funding to jurisdictions that don’t comply with federal immigration detainers or otherwise protect illegal immigrants.
On the campaign trail President-elect Trump said he would deport the estimated 11 million or so illegal immigrants in the U.S. and that he would build a wall along the southern border. The Daily Caller has reported that there has been a surge of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border in the weeks following Trump’s election.
Consul Jimenez also noted at the meeting that Mexicans are going to their local consulates with their passports and birth certificates to prepare for possible deportations.