CV NEWS FEED // Democratic Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez slammed “sanctuary cities,” including his own, claiming that they thrive on the border crisis continuing and regard the unprecedented influx of migrants as a “cash cow.”
The Democratic city lawmaker also appeared to blame President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for Chicago’s migrant surge and its resulting crime wave.
“The big cities are looking at this as the next cash cow to be perfectly honest,” Lopez said during a Thursday NewsNation interview.
“They’re not trying to get any kind of resolution to the border crisis,” he argued. “They just want an infusion of money so they can prop their governments up … to continue … taking care of individuals who don’t necessarily belong here.”
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During the interview, Lopez also weighed in on the case of four Venezuelan migrants who are accused of viciously beating and robbing a man on a Chicago “L” train.
“Unfortunately, this is a repeat situation throughout the City of Chicago where we’ve seen these organized junior gangs of the Venezuelan migrant asylum seekers targeting people out of desperation or from the lack of resources or from just their past lives in Venezuela,” he said.
“And the City of Chicago seems to be totally unprepared to address this and unwilling to arrest anyone because of our welcoming city laws that [say] that we’re not going to do anything to these individuals who commit such violent crimes as this,” the alderman added.
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“The onus has to be on the federal government, on Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas,” the Democrat continued.
He said that Biden and Mayorkas “allow these individuals to come in here completely unvetted, based on whatever they were willing to tell us at the time, and allow them to roam free throughout our country.”
“Not everyone that’s come here is looking for a better life,” Lopez pointed out. “Some individuals are just here to exploit the situation and it’s putting Americans at risk.”
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Currently, Lopez is challenging three-term incumbent Rep. Chuy Garcia, D-IL, in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 4th Congressional District. The district is over two-thirds Hispanic.
Lopez is widely considered to be a more moderate Democrat than Garcia.
Garcia is a member of the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). The CPC includes several far-left members such as Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-MN, and Rashida Tlaib, D-MI.
The congressman’s website does include several left-leaning talking points on immigration.
“We must combat the false narrative that immigrants are dangerous individuals,” it states. “We must also continue to hold agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) accountable.”
Back in 2019, Garcia hailed Chicago’s lenient immigration policies, noting: “We are the nation’s first sanctuary city and we will not be its last.”
In addition, Garcia was among the majority of Democrats who voted against the Laken Riley Act, which passed the U.S. House Thursday.
>> HOUSE PASSES ‘LAKEN RILEY ACT’ WITH SUPPORT OF 37 DEMOCRATS <<
Meanwhile, in addition to his criticism of “sanctuary city” policies, Lopez is known as a staunch supporter of Chicago’s police force. The alderman was previously a prominent critic of controversial Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
During last year’s mayoral race, Lopez endorsed candidate Paul Vallas, who ran on a law-and-order platform. Vallas narrowly lost in the runoff round to “progressive” now-Mayor Brandon Johnson.
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