Democratic officials protesting outside a suburban Chicago immigration facility are more interested in political grandstanding than improving public safety, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said on Newsmax on Saturday.
Blagojevich's remarks to "Saturday Report" came after U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Democrats from Illinois, joined demonstrators Friday outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center in Broadview, Illinois.
"They're not trying to get into that ICE facility," Blagojevich said. "What they're trying to do is get on the camera. They're just a bunch of pandering politicians trying to promote their political agenda and a chance to get free media."
The senators met with protesters calling for oversight into immigration enforcement tactics and the treatment of detainees inside the facility.
Their visit followed a federal judge's ruling ordering fencing around the facility to be removed after finding it was erected without village approval and blocked access for emergency vehicles. The decision was viewed as a win for protesters who have gathered outside the site for weeks.
Blagojevich, however, dismissed the senators' presence as political theater.
The former governor said Durbin, Duckworth and Gov. JB Pritzker — who all previously worked with him — have chosen "the side of lawlessness" over law enforcement and the rule of law.
"They decided to choose a side that's of mob violence, chaos and anarchy against the side of law enforcement, the National Guard, and servicemen and women," he said. "They're protecting the tens of thousands of criminals who come to America illegally."
Blagojevich claimed that out of roughly 14 million illegal immigrants, "conservative estimates suggest 10% are criminals," including "fentanyl drug dealers, child sex traffickers and cold-blooded killers."
He praised President Donald Trump for deploying federal resources to secure the border and criticized Pritzker for opposing the National Guard presence in Chicago.
"He's calling the men and women in the armed services and law enforcement thugs," Blagojevich said. "It's too bad the president doesn't have the power to fire governors, because nobody fires people better than Donald Trump."
Blagojevich accused Pritzker of "provoking anger" to appeal to "crazy, lunatic, left-wing communist Democrat voters" and said threats against ICE agents have increased "by 1,000%" since the governor began using the immigration debate to boost his national profile.
Turning to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who recently declared the city an "ICE-free zone," Blagojevich said the policy sends the wrong message amid rising crime and gang activity.
"I wish he'd resign as mayor and give us someone who'll protect the public," Blagojevich said. "Why not pick the side of law-abiding citizens instead of criminals and gangbangers?"
He added that Democratic leaders have created an "Alice in Wonderland" atmosphere where "everything is upside down."
"The Democratic Party has been infected with this cancer of communist influence," he said, tying recent decisions by a Biden-appointed judge and progressive prosecutors to "the influence of George Soros and the far left."
As protests continue in Broadview, Blagojevich said Americans should look beyond the headlines.
"We've got to see who's really behind all of this," he said. "Who knows where it goes?"
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