[MUSIC] >> Welcome to the capital of you on Siu.

I'm Brian Sapp.

The federal shutdown looks to be over with eight Democrats voting to in the filibuster.

One of those senators voting is Illinois Senator Dick Durbin will have reaction to his vote.

And the immigration enforcement continues in Chicago.

But there is word that US Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino and some of the agents could be leaving the city.

We'll have an update on that situation there.

Joining us this week to talk about what's happening in Illinois around the state are Hannah Maisel, she's with Capitol News Illinois, and Charlie Wheeler.

He's the emeritus director of the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois, Springfield.

Welcome to the program.

>> It's nice to be back.

Thanks for having us.

>> We'll start as we're recording on Wednesday.

The House is scheduled to vote now that the Senate has voted to pass the continuing resolution.

Charlie, let's start there.

There's been lots of ink spilled this week reacting to Senator Dick Durbin voting to pass cloture and go ahead and move this bill.

What is some of the reaction that we've seen?

>> Well, Senator Durbin has been pretty routinely criticized by some of his colleagues in some very harsh terms and some less harsh terms for providing one of the Democratic votes needed for the the president's program to go forward, to reopen the government.

And the the argument was that the Democrats were doing well in the polls.

They had a tremendous showing in the elections the other week.

And why should they capitulate to the basically to to President Trump's demands to open the government.

And as I said, some of the stuff was really harsh.

I mean, Tammy Duckworth, who, when Durbin leaves office next year will become the senior senator from Illinois, said.

And let me make sure I can find her quote here.

And here's her quote.

Trump and Republicans refused to fight for American families, but I refuse to give up on them.

I simply cannot, and I will not vote to do nothing to help protect them from Trump's vindictive and malicious efforts in exchange for a vague promise from the least trustworthy Republican Party in our nation's history.

This is the time to keep fighting, to bring costs down and protect the American people.

So she was pretty critical.

And Senator Durbin did not get a whole lot of support elsewhere in Illinois.

Uh, all the people who want to replace him were very critical.

Uh, for example, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton said we need fighters in DC, not folders.

And so the the kind of blowback and I'm I'm sure that Dick Durbin expected that he's been around a long time.

He knows how the game is played.

And in my mind, I think what went into Durbin's calculation was he looks at what the situation is.

He sees that there are people who are really struggling to feed their families because of the food stamps being halted.

He sees state or federal workers who've been laid off with no pay.

He's seen air traffic controllers who are calling in sick so they can go get a second job to support themselves.

He sees all this suffering going on and he realizes that we're going to hold out and tell the people who are suffering, well, you keep suffering because we want to make sure that these subsidies for the Affordable Care Act continue to be available.

And then he looks and he sees who are we fighting against on the other side?

We have a Republican Congress who, in my judgment and probably Durbin's is pretty gutless.

They're afraid to stand up to the president.

We have a president who could care less about the Affordable Care Act.

And in fact, it's been his goal since he's been in office to do away with it because it was Barack Obama's idea.

Now, if the ballroom was threatened, then maybe he'd be willing to capitulate, but not on this.

So Durbin made a calculated decision, knowing he was going to take a lot of heat, that in the short term, this is the best we can do.

And he did get some concessions in the sense that there was an agreement to cover the cost of food stamps to hire back several hundred thousand government workers who'd been who'd been laid off to pay the air traffic controllers to get our airplanes, our airport situation, back to normal.

And so it was a, you know, two bad, bad choices.

And I think Durbin made the less.

What would you say the less harmful one.

And he's and he's not running again.

So he doesn't have to worry about that.

And as a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure none of the Democrats who voted for it are up for election this next time around.

A couple of my retiring others are got elected last time around, so they still got six years to go.

And it was it was in my judgment also it was it was probably what's referred to as a structured roll call, which we would see in Hannah.

You've seen a lot of this in the General Assembly.

Well, here's a tough issue.

And we're going to put the votes on.

And Brian, you're in a difficult district.

You get to vote no on it.

Hannah you're safe.

You vote for it.

You vote for it.

And when we get to in the house, when we get to 60 votes.

Everybody else can vote no and go home.

I mean, I saw the legislature.

It was one guy from the northwest side of Chicago.

Every time the suburbs wanted to take over O'Hare airport, and he was a Democrat.

He'd vote with the suburbs because the bill was going to die.

But he could go home and tell his constituents, I'm fighting for you.

So I think a lot of that had to do with it, too.

And the question is, what's going to happen when it goes to the House?

Because, uh, the speaker of the House has not agreed that he's going to go along with any of these concessions that were made to get the Democrats in the Senate to to put the votes on, to move the legislation forward.

>> I mean, I think one of the other interesting things about this is, you know, we've seen time and again, um, I mean, I think it's when we talk about election season, we talk about a whole host of issues.

But polling, you know, we can debate about its veracity.

Um, but it does seem that time and again, healthcare is one of Democrats most potent issues.

And so if I mean, let's be clear, I want to actually read first before I make this point.

Um, what, uh, Governor Pritzker, uh, said, um, because in the deal, uh, that Senate Democrats made with Republicans, um, there will be a vote on ACA subsidies at some time in the future.

There's not even like, okay, we're going to do it this month.

Um, so Pritzker said, this is not a deal.

It's an empty promise.

Trump and his Republican Congress are making health care more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.

Um, you know, there are, you know, very legitimate worries that a people's premiums could double, if not triple, uh, in the New year.

But, um, you know, one of the arguments I've heard is that for Democrats to, um, you know, hold out for a deal, then it kind of takes away the potency of this issue.

And then Republicans wouldn't be left holding the bag or taking away these ACA subsidies, which are popular, you know, across the country, even especially in, uh, very red districts.

And, um, you know, on the other hand, though, uh, I think a lot of Democrats say like, hey, like we're finally starting to break through, uh, to the American public, you know, the attention economy is harder and harder to capture people's attention away from their phones, away from, um, the we no longer have, like a sort of monoculture.

And it takes a lot to break through to people.

But a lot of Democrats said, like, we're finally starting to break through, and now we're going to end the shutdown.

And for what?

You know, uh, Snap benefits would be fully funded through September, but we would have only a continuing resolution for funding the government until January 30th.

And what then, do you want to do another shutdown?

Uh, it is it is very, very hard to sell politically.

Like, these are like I think like Charlie said, these are all bad options.

Um, but I guess, uh, we'll see if, um, you know, people like Durbin and others who maybe even quietly supported that idea but still voted no, uh, if their logic is borne out or if it blows up in Democrats faces.

And it's not like Democrats have been lauded in these last few years for having, um, let's say, political savvy?

>> Yeah.

I don't know that any side was seemed to have a win win.

There were people struggling all over, you know, flights being canceled, worries about all the reports of the ACA going up, Snap and all the legal battles.

And I guess we'll have to see, because January 30th is not that far away.

And we'll have to see what happens.

Happens then.

Um, Hannah, I wanted to stick with you.

Move on to a new topic.

Um, last week you spent when Brandon was on, he talked about, um, you spent some time in court talking about some of the issues going on there, but I wanted to start with some of the reports I've seen that, uh, Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino and some agents could be maybe leaving the city.

Can you tell us a little bit about that reporting?

>> Yeah.

There have been reports this week that, um, Operation Midway Blitz, which began in early September here in the Chicago, Chicagoland area, um, might be winding down, uh, with, uh, Greg and, uh, Border Patrol leaving, um, you know, possibly within this week.

Um, border patrol, I just want to remind viewers, normally operates in the desert at the southern border.

For the most part, um, there's an interpretation of, um, what the border is.

And, you know, that allows the Great Lakes to be seen as a border.

And that's kind of the legal justification for why Border Patrol is here.

Border patrol is not used to operating in urban environments.

Uh, ice is ice, uh, you know, has continually had a presence here in Chicago and other cities for many years since its inception, which I think is 2007.

And so Ice is used to working in urban environments.

Border patrol is used to working, uh, you know, a different seeing, a different type of target, uh, shall we say.

and kind of viewing everyone with suspicion.

And I think that's, um, one of the reasons why they have been more aggressive.

Uh, and, you know, we've seen also reports in the last couple of weeks that the Trump administration likes that aggression, um, and, uh, want to replace some of its leadership with Border Patrol.

Um, nevertheless, uh, when Border Patrol, if and when Border Patrol does, um, wind down its time here, um, the Department of Homeland Security insists that no one is going anywhere.

And in fact, uh, I just saw reported, I believe, late last Tuesday night or early, uh, this Wednesday morning that, um, Border Patrol could come back fourfold in March.

I also want to mention that these folks who work for birth control, not only are they mostly working in the desert, um, there are also people who are mostly from those southwest states.

They're not used to a Chicago winter.

You know, I don't think that that's a major, uh, calculation here, but, uh, it is something kind of interesting to note.

But even though, uh, Operation Midway Blitz might be winding its way down, um, we're going to get, um, we're recording here on Wednesday morning.

Um, there's a hearing at 11:00.

And I think that we're going to get updated arrest numbers.

But the most recent arrest numbers that we have from this operation, uh, show that there was approximately 3000 people, um, undocumented.

Well, people arrested, although, um, we should say that not all of those people, uh, have actually worn out to be undocumented immigrants.

Some of them are actually US citizens.

Um, some of them have in fact been, uh, released or shown to have other legal authorization to be in the US.

But, um, in many cases that we've seen reported in the media, uh, people, even though they do have legal authorization to be here.

Um, the Department of Homeland Security basically is saying that doesn't matter anymore.

Um, you know, especially if these things were granted during the Biden administration.

Um, there are many cases at play here.

Um, I mentioned we're going to have a hearing at 11.

Um, that is about, uh, more broadly, uh, how DHS is, uh, following or not following this, uh, 2022 consent decree, um, that basically prohibited ice, um, to, uh, conduct basically warrantless arrests.

But, uh, what we've seen from attorneys is that, uh, Ice and then thus Border Patrol, who has been kind of taking the lead in this operation, have not been following that.

Um, I think we're going to get an update there, uh, this afternoon.

Um, there are arraignments for, uh, congressional candidate Kat Godzilla and five others who were protesting at the Ice facility in suburban Broadview in September.

Um, they along with dozens of other people.

But, um, they these people are, for the most part, elected officials and, um, their elected officials and, um, candidates for office.

And they are, uh, they were targeted basically in this indictment that was unsealed at the end of October.

Um, and, uh, so they're going to finally be arraigned.

Uh, that's a very interesting, uh, case that, uh, we're going to want to keep our eyes on.

Um, last week, we had a preliminary injunction in a case, um, about, uh, federal agents use of riot control weapons, um, toward protesters.

But protesters have also come to mean any members of the public that happens to, um, be in contact with these federal agents when they're conducting immigration enforcement activity.

Um, there are there's also a case, um, about the conditions of that Broadview Ice facility.

Um, there was a very long hearing last week that, uh, you know, we heard from people who had actually spent, uh, you know, anywhere from a day to five days there.

And they describe the truly deplorable conditions, um, that they were subjected to.

It was never meant to be a detention facility.

In fact, you know, in Illinois, um, Illinois law stipulates that there can't be any detention facilities.

It is meant to be a processing center.

So people are not supposed to spend more than 12 hours there.

But, uh, in many cases, since, um, immigration activity has ramped up in this second Trump administration, especially since September, people have been spending days, if not weeks.

There are no showers, no hot food.

Maybe 1 or 2.

Or 2 or 3 meals a day.

Um.

They can't have more water.

Overflowing toilets.

No room to sleep.

People sleeping on the floor or in plastic chairs.

Um, so the judge overseeing that case has ordered, um, you know, ice to or, uh, improve the conditions, but there's really only so much they can do.

It's not like they can build a new building.

Um, all of a sudden, to accommodate all of these people, um, there has to be, uh, like, systemic differences in how ice is going to do things.

>> Okay, Charlie, I wanted to kind of follow up.

We touched a little bit last week, um, about some of the concerns of state legislators.

Legislators.

Um, you've covered news here in Illinois for for so long.

What what do you see of the impact on people around the state as you look at this.

Um, you know, people, they said that they were going to go after the worst of the worst, and we're not.

We've seen some of that, like, you know, I see on social media posts where they'll point out 1 or 2 people, they happen to be the worst of the worst, but then other people are getting swept up.

What are some of the impacts that you've seen just in that personal story, in the impact of this immigration enforcement as you kind of watch the news?

>> Well, I suspect that.

>> Particularly in the Chicago area, the average citizen looks at what's going on and says this, this is not what we expect in America.

We have these masked guys going around dressed up like combat soldiers pulling over, tamale vendors pulling over, uh, fathers taking their kids to school, going into a daycare center and terrorizing these little kids where they where they go after a teacher.

And Kristi Noem will Normal.

So these are the worst of the worst.

These are the devil incarnate.

And we're just making your your city so safe.

And that's totally BS.

There's.

Yeah, some of the people have criminal records, but most of them don't.

According to research done by the Chicago media.

And many of them were were in the process of going through the steps that you have to take to become an American citizen.

One of them is you have to show up for hearings and the Border Patrol and Ice waiting outside the hearing room, and you go in and you tell the judge, yes, I've done everything I should have, and now what's the next step?

And judge says, well, come back in a week or whatever.

You walk out the door and these goons grab you and hustle you off into an unmarked vehicle and take you, Lord knows where.

So I think the average citizen in Chicago thinks that this is just outrageous what's going on.

And it's interesting because the the federal judiciary in Chicago also has a very dim view of what Ice and the Border Patrol are doing, as Hannah mentioned.

They they appear to be in violation of one consent decree that goes back several years.

And this week she mentioned Broadview, and the judge ordered them to clean up their act.

It was considered a a just a horrible place to hold anybody, even overnight.

And they holding them for days and days.

And he's requiring very specifically what kind of things that have to be provided.

They have to have clean bedding mats for example.

They have to have oral hygiene products.

They have to have three, three full meals every day.

They have to get the prescribed medication.

Their cells have to be cleaned twice a day.

I mean, he really went into great detail.

As a matter of fact, there's a magistrate who is going to go in and inspect Broadview, uh, sometime this week.

They're working out the arrangements to see if, in fact, the feds are living up to what they're supposed to be doing.

And then the the Trump administration has asked the Chicago federal appeals court to block a lower court order that came out restricting the agents use, as Hannah mentioned, of force against protesters and journalists during the, uh, is Operation Midway Blitz that's going on.

And Judge Sarah Ellis has dismissed the the federal claim that, oh, we have to have these these ability to use this kind of stuff because there's these violent protests and our loyal, dedicated, wonderful soldiers are are being endangered by these moms that are shouting at them.

And she dismissed the government's claim that the Chicago area is a vice hold of violence, ransacked by rioters and attacked by agitators.

And she said, and I'm reading from her opinion, that simply is untrue.

The Trump administration's arguments lack credibility, and partly, she said, it's because of who she said admitted that he lied about whether Rock hit him before he deployed tear gas in Little Village.

So her order forbids agents from using riot control weapons against protesters or observers, like reporters who posed no immediate threat.

And without two warnings.

And there have been multiple instances where they've thrown tear gas at crowds with little kids without any warning.

It's like, and again, I'm not there.

But I get the impression that some of these Ice guys really get their jollies by harassing civilians and they're all masked up.

You can't see their faces.

You don't know who they are, they don't have any identification.

So it's if you're a guy who's a natural bully and likes to lord it over people, this is a perfect career for you.

So anyway, she's issued this order and now the administration is appealing it.

I'm thinking that the.

Well, nobody knows when the appeals court will rule, but the, uh.

And as Hannah said, and as you indicated, the indications are that all this military presence is going to be pulled back until the weather gets warmer.

>> Okay.

We have Hannah.

We have about 2.5 minutes.

And I wanted to maybe just a little bit if you could tell us.

Are there any personal stories that you've heard that just have stuck out to you or other?

Um, just the impact that this has had in a human sense.

We got about two minutes left.

>> Yeah.

You know, um, I'm sorry, in that hearing, um, about the conditions at the Broadview Ice facility, um, like I mentioned, there were I think it was five, uh, people who had been held in the facility who testified, and one of them was a young mother.

We didn't get her age, but she looked to be about in her early 20s, um, early to mid 20s.

And she was, um, uh, basically she was on video conference on her phone, um, from Honduras where she had been deported back to.

And her testimony was that she was on her way to work 5 a.m., um, her, uh, children who were, I believe, uh, five years old and, uh, nine months old with the babysitter.

And, um, she was taken by these agents and she was held in Broadview, and she, uh, said that when she got there, um, the agents handed her some paperwork.

Um, and, you know, some agents do speak some Spanish.

Some, um, are native Spanish speakers and some speak only English.

Um, and part of the lawsuit is this claim that, uh, these agents are misrepresenting what the papers are or otherwise, um, not fully, um, explaining it.

And she claimed that she was basically duped into signing these self-deportation papers because she was told that, um, number one, she could come back to the US for five years, uh, in five years.

And then number two, um, basically, she felt pressured that if she didn't sign them, she wouldn't get out of Broadview because, uh, you know, it seems as if, according to the attorneys, uh, ice is using, um, the conditions of the facility as kind of a, a cudgel as Is leverage for people to sign these self-deportation papers.

And she when she got back to Honduras, she was also not allowed any access to an attorney.

So when she got back to Honduras, after having signed these papers, um, she sought out an attorney.

And she was first, uh, basically scammed by someone who claimed to be an attorney but didn't, uh, wasn't.

And then when she got Ahold of a real attorney, the attorney told her that, in fact, it's ten years until she can petition her way back into the US, and she doesn't know when she's going to see her young children again.

>> Well, that's all the time that we have on Capitol View.

There's lots of more stories like that.

Join us next week as we look at what's making news around the state of Illinois.

[MUSIC] [MUSIC]