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State Week: The Trump Administration targets Illinois

State Week 23 logo (capitol dome)
Brian Mackey
/
NPR Illinois

President Donald Trump's Administration is poised to launch a major immigration enforcement operation in Chicago. At the same time, National Guard troops could be brought in to patrol the city in what is being described as a crime crackdown.

Meanwhile, Chicago's mayor, Illinois' governor and other officials are asking the public to avoid confrontations and have threatened legal action.

Illinois has been a target of Trump, who has referred to Chicago as a "hell hole" due to violent crime. But the numbers show the city's murder rate falling.

The Department of Justice is also asking for a complete list of the state's voter rolls and some universities, including Northwestern, are under investigation. Northwestern's president has announced his resignation.

We discuss it all on State Week. Our panel includes host Sean Crawford, Professor Emeritus Charlie Wheeler and WBEZ's Patrick Smith, a longtime public safety reporter and co-host of the new show "Say More."

The former director of the Public Affairs Reporting (PAR) graduate program is Professor Charles N. Wheeler III, a veteran newsman who came to the University of Illinois at Springfield following a 24-year career at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Patrick Smith is a producer for WBEZ. He produces All Things Considered and reports on politics and criminal justice. Patrick joined WBEZ as an intern in 2013 and never left.