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This Wednesday, catch up on Gov. Pritzker's latest comments on the Trump administration's threats, as well as stories on a new lawsuit targeting the state and more from WTTW News.
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Gov. JB Pritzker addresses the news media on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, as Mayor Brandon Johnson looks on. (WTTW News) |
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President Donald Trump is preparing to send members of the Texas National Guard as well as “armed military personnel” to Chicago, Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday, once again dismissing Trump’s latest pledge to combat crime as cover for an unconstitutional federal overreach.
“Unidentifiable agents in unmarked vehicles with masks are planning to raid Latino communities and say they’re targeting violent criminals, as we saw in Los Angeles,” Pritzker said, adding that the looming deployment was timed to coincide with celebrations of Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16. “A very, very small percentage of the individuals they will target will be violent criminals.”
Pritzker said federal agents would target Chicagoans based on the color of their skin, and whether they appear to be Latino.
“It breaks my heart to report that we have been told ICE will try to disrupt community picnics and peaceful parades,” Pritzker said. “Let’s be clear — the terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anybody living here.”
More context:
The Trump administration plans to use Naval Station Great Lakes, nearly 35 miles outside Chicago, to house federal immigration agents or National Guard troops who could be deployed to Chicago, according to federal officials.
While Pritzker said his information came from “unauthorized, patriotic officials” as well as media reports, a source in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office told WTTW News that they were “not sure where the governor got his information, but it is not accurate.”
Shortly before Pritzker addressed the news media from his offices in downtown Chicago, Trump told reporters that he would send National Guard troops to Chicago despite a federal judge ruling that his administration violated a federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act by using the military to fight crime in Los Angeles.
“We’re going in. I didn’t say when. We’re going in,” Trump said, again calling Chicago a crime-ridden “hellhole.” |
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The U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., is pictured in a file photo. (The Bold Bureau / iStock) |
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Federal authorities are challenging an Illinois state law that guarantees financial aid to undocumented students, claiming that doing so treats other residents as “second-class citizens.”
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the state itself arguing that by providing in-state tuition and scholarships to undocumented students, they are unconstitutionally discriminating against U.S. citizens.
“Under federal law, schools cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “This Department of Justice has already filed multiple lawsuits to prevent U.S. students from being treated like second-class citizens — Illinois now joins the list of states where we are relentlessly fighting to vindicate federal law.”
Some backstory:
Pritzker last month signed into law House Bill 460, which amends the state’s existing Retention of Illinois Students and Equity, or RISE, Act to grant access to state-funded scholarships, grants and stipends to undocumented immigrants, who aren’t eligible for federal aid, beginning next year.
In doing so, the Justice Department claims Illinois is “flagrantly violating” federal law.
“This policy treats illegal aliens better than U.S. citizens living in other states and incentivizes even more illegal immigration, all on the taxpayer’s dime,” U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft, of the Southern District of Illinois, where the lawsuit was filed, said in a statement. “Illinois citizens deserve better.”
Pritzker — a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2028 — has repeatedly sparred with federal authorities in recent weeks as President Donald Trump has threatened to send the National Guard and a strike team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into Chicago. |
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Sunset along Chicago's lakefront, Aug. 21, 2025. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News) |
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Summer is over, meteorologically speaking, and it was fairly unremarkable, weather-wise.
Despite a long stretch of hot and humid days early in the month, August as a whole finished with below normal temperatures, according to the Chicago office of the National Weather Service.
Chicago’s average high temperature in August, as measured at O’Hare Airport, was 81.6 degrees, which is .9 degrees below normal. The mean average temperature for the month was 73.3 degrees, or .5 degrees below normal.
The entire season was slightly warmer than normal owing to a blistering start in June, which tied for the sixth hottest since record-keeping began in 1872.
That uncommonly hot June led to an overall seasonal average high temperature of 83.9 degrees, or 1.4 degrees above normal.
Although localized downpours led to flash flooding in some parts of Chicago, precipitation for the entire summer season finished at 12.95 inches, or .89 inches above normal.
September is kicking off with an approaching cold front and will feel more like October, so go ahead and break out the pumpkin spice.
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Back in the Day: September 3, 1955 - Emmett Till’s Open Casket Funeral
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Emmett Till was a Black teenager from Chicago who was abducted, tortured and killed on Aug. 28, 1955, after being accused of flirting with a White woman while visiting family in Mississippi. He was only 14 years old. On Sept. 3, 1955, a day after his decomposed body was returned to Chicago in a casket, his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open casket funeral to show the brutality of his attackers and the injustices African American people face in the country. On this day 70 years ago, Till’s casket was taken to Roberts Temple Church of God in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood for viewing and funeral services. Thousands of Chicagoans waited in line to view his brutally beaten body. Till’s attackers, J. W. Milam and Roy Bryant, were acquitted of the crime in September 1955, a ruling that Belgian newspaper, Le Peuple, calls “a judicial scandal in the United States.” Jet magazine would publish photos of Till’s body in September, horrific images that would become an icon of the Civil Rights movement. In 2025, community leaders, supporters and family members held a memorial at the burial place of Till and his mother, Till-Mobley, at Burr Oak Cemetery in south suburban Alsip to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Till’s murder. |
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Chicago-Area Live Music Recommendations for Sept. 3-9 |
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Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.
Wednesday, Sept. 3:
Lucky Cloud, Katy Pinke, Astrachan at Hideout. Tickets.
Headliner Chet Zenor has one of the year’s best Chicago albums in “Foreground.”
Thursday, Sept. 4:
McKinley Dixon, Rhea the Second at Schubas. Tickets.
The Chicago rapper’s new album “Magic, Alive!” is one of the year’s most acclaimed full-lengths.
Friday, Sept. 5:
Jessica Risker, V.V. Lightbody at Constellation. Tickets.
The Chicago folk-rock songwriter celebrates the release of her new album “Calendar Year.”
PUP, Jeff Rosenstock, Ekko Astral at Salt Shed. Tickets.
The best punk bill of the summer hits the Salt Shed Fairgrounds.
Shemekia Copeland at Old Town School of Folk Music. Tickets.
The award-winning and Grammy-nominated blues and soul vocalist with a powerhouse voice returns to Chicago.
Saturday, Sept. 6:
Sam Evian, Elizabeth Moen at Empty Bottle. Tickets.
The in-demand producer and indie rock songwriter plays his lush, heady songs in Ukrainian Village.
Iron and Wine, Tune-yards, Sunny War, Ryley Walker, John Moreland, more at Evanston Folk Festival. Tickets.
The Evanston Folk Festival highlights the genre’s most respected tunesmiths over two nights at Dawes Park.
Sunday, Sept. 7:
Beach Bunny, Soccer Mommy, Sidney Gish, Great Grandpa at Salt Shed. Tickets.
Summer isn’t over as long as you attend the Chicago pop-punk band’s annual outdoor bash.
Margo Price, Bonny Light Horseman, Loudon Wainwright III, Kara Jackson, more at Dawes Park. Tickets.
The Evanston Folk Festival highlights the genre’s most respected tunesmiths over two nights at Dawes Park.
Monday, Sept. 8:
Great Grandpa, Free Range at Empty Bottle. Tickets.
Intimate and exceptional songwriting in Ukrainian Village.
Tuesday, Sept. 9:
Waxahatchee, Jessica Pratt, Sharp Pins at Salt Shed. Tickets.
This might be the indie rock bill of the waning summer.
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What's been the best part of your Chicago summer so far? |
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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