THESE PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS!
First, Wheaton is not a hotspot for illegals to reside. Even though we are the home of World Relief, that organization brings in bona fide refugees who have been vetted. Yes, Wheaton has several progressive Christian organizations that have bought into the “No one is Illegal” mantra, but there is not a lot of low-income housing or jobs available in the city.
Second, Wheaton is one of the safest cities in Illinois precisely because our laws are enforced. These ingrates don’t appreciate that they are literally demanding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement not enforce our national laws. It’s either that, or they think ICE is wrongly enforcing the laws. Which is it, organizers?
And what exactly does “Harm to One is Harm to All” mean? Maybe the organizers should ask if the harm – murder of Katie Abraham and her friend Chloe Polzin – by an illegal alien in Champaign means harm to all. Why aren’t they focused on that? Or the harm illegals do by just simply flaunting our laws and expecting us to pick up the tab for everything.
This particular rally in Wheaton, though, is just trying to get the Democrats riled up in the suburbs for political gain. They are looking to piggyback on all the attention Chicago is receiving about the threat of heightened ICE enforcement and possibly the National Guard coming to patrol the streets of the City.
In addition to the threat of increased ICE enforcement, Gov. Pritzker, Mayor Johnson, and the media cannot stop talking about President Trump’s promise to bring in the national guard, especially after the shooting spree in Chicago last weekend. According to HeyJackass.com, the final Labor Day tally was 10 killed and 50 wounded.
But instead of boots on the ground, Mayor Johnson says, “Just send me the money.” On X, he posted this message: “If the federal government wants to help, they should invest, not invade.”
The comments on the post are scathing, rightly pointing out that he welcomed illegals and the squandered $600 million on illegals, that his budgets are a mess and he can’t be trusted with money, and that the federal government owes him nothing.
Besides, Chicago receives millions in violence prevention grants from state taxpayers. We should be asking where all that money went. Last year, Gov. Pritzker announced $100 million in violence prevention grants. He called the spending historic.
CBS reported that “Organizations in neighborhoods like North Lawndale, Austin, Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, and Little Village will be able to increase their anti-violence efforts because of the funding. Programs in Englewood and New City will also receive funding.”
In April of this year, Chicago received an additional $20 million in Cook County Community Violence Intervention (CC-CVI) money from a consortium of government agencies.
As part of our DOGE IL effort, we’ve noted several non-profits that receive this money. If you haven’t looked at our list of the thousands of grants going to various non-profits, that list is HERE.
With Brandon Johnson, literally just saying that he only needs more money to solve the violence problem in Chicago, now is a good time to highlight SOME of the violence prevention grants that are in the FY2026 budget that just passed, and who is getting that money.
These grants come from multiple agencies, and the agency that spends the most on violence prevention grants is the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Some of these grants are designated explicitly as Violence Prevention only. In the budget, other grants are violence prevention, youth employment, and/or community development.
On page 755, for example, is this list showing $43,177,572 to numerous NGOs:
Take some time to look at the list of NGOs getting violence prevention grants and ask yourself if you seriously think they are doing anything.
Notice that at the bottom of the last page another violence prevention grant is listed in the amount of $5,975,000.
But that’s not all.
On page 763, there’s $55 million for public safety and economic development.
On Page 765, there’s $39,960,000 for public safety and economic development.
On page 790, $9,267,045 for youth employment and violence prevention.
On page 819, $13, 610,488 same as above.
There are many more lines in the budget that are for public safety, violence prevention, youth employment, or community development going to non-profits that taxpayers should not be funding. The FY2026 budget can be viewed at this link: https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/104/SB/PDF/10400SB2508sam003.pdf
Pritzker and Johnson are wasting your money, passing it around to bogus NGOs or NGOs that should go to their donors for money and stop looking to the taxpayer to fund their organization. A cynical person would say this is money for getting out the vote, and I wouldn’t disagree.
Jim Reynolds writes in a blog titled: What Might the Left Do Next to Ensure They Never Lose Again? which I received in an email and do not have a link to, about spending on NGOs:
“America’s political divide is no longer just about policy. It’s about power—who controls the machinery, and whether elections remain contests or are engineered as foregone conclusions….
Meanwhile, a quieter power shift hums beneath the surface. Federal dollars are funneled to activist nonprofits—NGOs branded as climate warriors, equity champions, or guardians of democracy, but in practice functioning as soft arms of political power. It isn’t a conspiracy—it’s a budget line, buried in USAID, HUD, and Education Department spreadsheets.
The danger here isn’t abstract. When institutions are gamed instead of governed, when outcomes are pre-engineered instead of earned, democracy hollows out from within. Elections risk becoming theater—rituals with predetermined winners, pre-cleansed ballots, and carefully managed dissent.”
Here are more stories about crime in Chicago and Trump’s vow to clean it up.
As Trump vows to step in and clean up the cities’ violent streets, Pritzker is trying to portray the President’s move as ‘terror and cruelty’:
Instead of taking the President up on his offer to help (like the mayor of New Orleans is doing), Pritzker is taking his usual greedy, lazy, and ineffective approach to everything- ‘Just give me more federal money’:
Pritzker is claiming that Illinois’ high crime rate is a manufactured crisis, but the statistics from Labor Day weekend don’t lie:
The governor is also going on the airwaves to promote his crazy conspiracy theory that President Trump just wants to use this opportunity to ‘take control of the 2026 elections’:
Meanwhile, after the violence prevention grants fail and the criminals get prosecuted and go to jail (or not), then the lawyers come, in some cases years later, to fleece the taxpayers again.
Some of these payouts for improper procedures or wrongful conviction are legitimate, many are suspect though.
This article from City Journal should be a wake-up call to taxpayers and elected officials. The city can’t afford $700 million in payouts to criminal defendents.
“Chicago law firms have found a new way to get paid at taxpayers’ expense: suing the city for alleged police misconduct. The suits are draining hundreds of millions from Chicago’s coffers at a time when the city can’t afford to lose a dime. Voters should hold their leaders accountable for enabling this racket.”
http://www.city-journal.org/article/chicago-exonerations-criminal-justice
I was at the State Freedom Caucus Summit in Dallas this weekend. Friday night’s dinner featured Governor Ron DeSantis and Border Czar Tom Homan as speakers. Both men were phenomenal. I’ll play clips of their speeches on my radio show tonight. Thank you to Greg Bishop with Center Square Illinois for uploading the recordings so I can use them right away.
Hope you had a safe and fun weekend.