Lynn Sweet is back with our weekly Looped In With Lynn Sweet segment, where Lynn and Jen discuss all things Chicago.
This week, Sweet describes the aftermath of the Texas National Guard judge-ordered retreat, as well as the blatantly incorrect narratives spun by the Administration to justify their actions. Sweet and Jen also dive in to the Catholic Church’s influence on immigration advocacy.
As if Chicago didn’t have enough going on, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA)’s resolution rebuking Rep. “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL)’s electoral “switcharoo” passed in the House. Sweet gives us the inside scoop on what this means and what has been happening behind the scenes.
Lynn Sweet is the Chicago Sun-Times’ special correspondent for Chicago Public Media, and was previously their Washington Bureau Chief. She appears frequently on CNN & other outlets as an analyst and previously worked at the late PoliticsDaily.
Jen Rubin
Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian. We’re delighted to have back Lynn Sweet from the Chicago Sun-Times from the Windy City itself. Hi, Lynn, how you doing?
Lynn Sweet
Good to be with you again. Thanks for having us.
Jen Rubin
What’s the temperature out there? Is it cold?
Lynn Sweet
It’s in the 40s right now, and… Oh, that’s not bad.
Jen Rubin
Jesus.
Lynn Sweet
Which, you know, for a November… for a November day is… is pretty good, but we’ve already had a few Arctic… what to me seems like Arctic blasts here. And, you know, I grew up in Chicago. I haven’t been here for a Chicago winter since the end of 1993 when I moved to Washington. I know what to do, it doesn’t make it warmer, but I know… I know how to do it. So yeah, so it’s, it’s getting there.
Jen Rubin
Yes, I’ll never forget visiting Chicago on one of my kids’ college tours in April, and the snow was still on the ground. So, yes, this is a special place. But let’s start there, frankly, because perhaps the cold weather has chased the… Border Patrol and their assorted, federal ancillary groups, out of the city, because they’ve gone to Southern Climate, they’ve gone to Charlotte, and more recently now, into Raleigh. Talk about, kind of, the denouement of all this. It seemed like everything was intense, and then all of a sudden. They were announcing that they were.
Lynn Sweet
Filing at a time. Well, who doesn’t like to snowbird? Now, in all seriousness, you know, the word was when they left, well, we’ll be back. In the meantime, the Texas National Guard has been sent home. They’re standing down the offices they had in the Great Lakes Naval Station, just north of Chicago. If they intended to come back anytime soon, I don’t know if they would have dismantled All this, and send equipment back to wherever it came from, and deal with the vendors. But… it still leaves a shattered Chicago in its wake. The people, you know, there are still people who are under detention, still people who have disappeared, whose whereabouts haven’t been located. There’s still a lot of court cases, pending, of which you write magnificently about in your newsletter. And the… The aftershock of this is still ongoing. If the day-by-day detainment of people who are has stopped. And when I say detainment of people, they weren’t all immigrants, some were citizens. This law enforcement effort was not done in a surgical way, meaning I need to identify who I want, get the warrant, and in a way that is lawful. And does not… And that works, meaning when a woman who was a teacher at a daycare center was taken with children nearby, with all the tools that law enforcement officials had. The thought is, was there a different way of doing it, so you didn’t subject children to… it had to be a terrifying event? And also, she was supposed to be released from custody. You know, there was just a better way of doing it. As we get in our discussion, I want to remind people, as I think I have. No one in Chicago is against the lawful arrest with a warrant. of somebody who has been identified, as President Trump said, the worst of the worst. That doesn’t mean, in most… in my analysis, that’s shared by many, that if you have a DWI on your record. or some minor thing does not seem to qualify as the worst of the worst, but otherwise you live a peaceful life. But anyway, it seems from some of the video I’ve seen in Charlotte that this very aggressive border control tactics have, gone from Chicago South.
Jen Rubin
Absolutely. Now, you folks at the Chicago Sun-Times have been covering exactly what you’ve been talking about, this abuse of power, and I think you had an impressive headline recently on that. Do you want to hold it up if you have it?
Lynn Sweet
And we’re so proud of what reporting was at WBEZ.org, and sometimes.
Jen Rubin
Sorry. Very good, give credit.
Lynn Sweet
This is in our Sunday paper. So, we found here, in this story. that the feds in Chicago are using force that cops, and even their own agency, ban or restrict. This was our you know, exclusive analysis. Then, We also did a real big story When I say we, it’s not me, really. The credit goes to my incredible.
Jen Rubin
Oh, it’s to all of you, absolutely.
Lynn Sweet
Okay, so then, a real thorough analysis of all the video That’s been taken, made for Hollywood, quote, propaganda, end quote, videos portray Chicago as a city at war with feds, even if the storytelling doesn’t always match reality. We have in the same paper, we did a study of how another claim is that you had to come to Chicago because we have crime more than anyone else. We had a study that red states have higher murder rates, our analysis showed. And then, speaking of crime. So, you know, the Department of Homeland Security wants it both ways when they say why they’re here. Was it a crime reduction mission, or was it an immigration deportation mission? So here, in this story, we did credit where credit isn’t due. The Department of Homeland Security claims agents Immigration enforcement led to, quote, a historic drop in Chicago crime, but a WBEZ analysis contradicts that claim. You know, we’ve done other stories, too, about, the use of force, of ordering tear gas, be dropped in a situation where other law enforcement officials, state and local, didn’t have gas masks on. So, we have been doing an enormous amounts of coverage, just trying to set the historic record straight.
Jen Rubin
On what exactly happened here.
Lynn Sweet
And, disputing claims that just were not true.
Jen Rubin
One of the things that came to light, and it was started, I think, by that image of, the, religious man being shot in the face with the rubber bullets, was how disrespectful and how violent they have been towards clergy. And one of the interesting responses, although not purely about violence, came from the Pope, who came down with a very emphatic statement on immigrants. What do you think this does in terms of the religious community and and people of faith who have seen this, who listen to the Pope. They may not be Catholic, but they may take some moral direction. What do you think the way they’ve treated clergy and the religious response, not only from the Pope, but from interfaith groups on the ground, what’s that like I said?
Lynn Sweet
Well, there have been Faith Fridays, where people… where clergy of different faiths have appeared at Broadview. There have been, you know. God squads that come.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
Lynn Sweet
So, at one point, some priests wanted to come to offer, sacraments or religious services.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
Lynn Sweet
when they were turned away, but I think Chicago Pope Leal, when he says something that resonates most particularly because it’s said with a Chicago accent. He knows what he’s talking about. It’s not…
Jen Rubin
It’s not a theoretical.
Lynn Sweet
theological viewpoint that this is bad, though there have been priests in Chicago. I saw a real interesting vertical video that some have done about how the way this is being done isn’t right. And I think when it comes to Pope Leo, this is our first time out where he has, in a sense, injected himself in a domestic affair, and it’s what’s taking place in his home city. I don’t know how much further he’s going to go. I don’t know if now he will keep it up. I don’t know if he will order more specific things to do than just urging this not to be. Don’t we always still, years after the Holocaust, wonder If the Pope had done more, what if? You know, at these… at these turning points in history. Yes. Where things… where the… acclaimed religious leaders, the most important ones, weigh in. Can it change? And, I don’t know, but certainly within the context of what happened in Chicago, it was welcomed. Aw. I don’t know if Trump can react or would react to anything the Pope said, but maybe other people will around him, or who advise him. So, I think it just remains to be seen what the impact of this will be.
Jen Rubin
I think that’s a brilliant insight in terms of the Catholic Church’s history of dealing with human rights atrocities, and really how they have had to come to terms with their very sordid history on that. It’s very interesting. I was thinking of Chicago, because the folks in New York, and in particular the business community, are now very concerned that the same thing is going to be happening in New York. And one of the things they’re doing is they’re pointing to other cities, like Los Angeles and Lake Chicago, and they’re saying, this is incredibly disruptive. It’s really bad for business. And I wonder how much this perhaps has woken up, the business community, whether it’s retailers, whether it’s other business, who, frankly, in this Trump administration, has been pretty darn quiet, and pretty darn passive. Have they had any reaction to the disruption that took place, the violence, the really, the Trump-created mayhem that went on that isn’t good for tourism, isn’t good for retail business.
Lynn Sweet
Well, the Chicago business community has long… strong elements of it. have long been active in the immigration movement, partly because the immigrant community was a big part of the Chicago workforce, especially in the hospitality industries. Yes. So this, coalition that crossed the aisle has long been standing, and so there is concern. The hospitality industry, by the way, is one that President Trump is familiar with, and at one point earlier on, he did try to carve out some exceptions, for workers, but you can’t… is he really going to carve out an exception for someone who is in what category. Now, when Trump took away these temporary protective status significance for some, and this is what I think is hard… you know, to… to explain… I mean, there’s so much going on, you can’t blame anyone, they don’t keep up with everything, that just calling someone in illegal isn’t quite this… doesn’t capture what it is for some people who did come here, were led over the border, you know, whether or not Biden should have let them in. they came, and if they came through that process, claimed amnesty, and then they got a protective status, they were not here illegally, but when… Those things change, or when you come in for your hearing or whatever, and you… then you find you’re in trouble. It’s, you know, it’s something, but tourism has been robust in Chicago in the summer. You know, Lollapalooza draws a lot of people, the summers here are magnificent.
Jen Rubin
And there has been a lot going on, so, so far…
Lynn Sweet
you know, this has not had any impact. Now, we do know that there is, still you know, COVID-related issues, in storefronts being emptied on Magnificent Mile. Yeah, which, by the way, Trump called it the Miracle Mile.
Jen Rubin
Los Angeles has a miracle mile, Chicago.
Lynn Sweet
Isn’t Wilshire? Isn’t Wilshire the Miracle Mile?
Jen Rubin
Yes, yes, yes.
Lynn Sweet
But who doesn’t know that? But in all to say, you can’t really… when you try to explain things. one should try to not conflate and pile on and say, well, this is good or bad only because of one reasons. You know, when you look at what’s going on, and the situation here, however, is still very friendly to tourists, and tourists come.
Jen Rubin
Right, and now we’re getting into the holiday season, so I’m sure the magnificent Mile is getting decorated. It’s going to look beautiful, as always.
Lynn Sweet
Mark, Christmas Market in the Daily Center under the Picasso, still there.
Jen Rubin
There we go. Fabulous. So, we will end on a purely political note that is really quintessential Chicago in some ways, and that is, the transition of a retiring member of Congress. Who didn’t just back out gracefully, but really pulled a fast one at the finish line. Talk to us about that, and about what’s going on in Washington, that, has some Democrats, really upset about this.
Lynn Sweet
Well, this technical term for this is… what I call it is the Chicago switcheroo. our local political level to having an impact on national politics. Here’s the story. Longtime Congressman Jesus Chewy Garcia, decided to retire. But the way he did is what’s causing the controversy. Chicago has a March primary, so everything starts earlier here than in some states, so our viewers, you know, stay with me. Because of that, the filing period just ended when you have to file your petitions. So, Chewy filed his petitions. Everyone thought he was running for another term, but in the last minutes, the last day. Kenahara, his chief of staff. files petitions. Too late for anyone else. And then he says that upon reflection, his doctor said he’s not well. He had a tragic death of a child a few years ago, after he ran, or around the time he ran for mayor. They adopted a grandchild. So he has a lot going on in his life. I get it. But nothing that just… Became apparent, you know, these two weeks ago. So… His view, so… so he rigged it. He rigged it for his successor. It’s not unknown in Chicago. Congressman Bill Dapinski rigged a system for his son to succeed him. When a now-retired Rep. Luis Gutierrez decided to retire, he pulled a version of this switcheroo. What is different is that another Democrat from Washington, whose name I’m not going to pronounce correctly, maybe you can, decided to elevate this to asking the House to reprimand Chewy. And here he was on the floor. He looked kind of stunned when I listened to his remark, saying, this isn’t how I envision my… starting my retirement. Usually, you have a victory lap. You get, you know, look at people who retire, you know, Jan Schaikowsky, Danny Davis. two long-time members, they’re on their kind of long off-road, you know, of being celebrated. And so… Chewy has a point. No one stopped anybody from just filing petitions and running. That could have been, I think, 2 years ago, he had a primary challenger. Now, why didn’t anyone challenge him? Because in these overwhelmingly democratic districts. when you have an incumbent, it’s real hard to run against them. You know, and everyone knows their name, and in raising federal campaign dollars. You are faced with a contribution limit, so you can’t just find one, you know, if you’re an alderman who wants to run, you just can’t have somebody give you $10,000. You have to raise your money, and what is the limit now? $2,600, or something like that, increments. Not that Chewy’s been a real big fundraiser. But his point is, as he said from the floor, I didn’t stop anyone from running. Now he has a point. But, so, you’re talking about a system that overwhelmingly favors an incumbent, which kind of discourages people from running. And no one was complaining about the job he was doing. It’s not like there was an issue to run against him. he, you know, Jan and, Jan Schakowsky and Danny Davis, we’re pretty much going to have challengers no matter what. mainly, I think, on the age issue, because that is an issue of Democrats. So now, as we speak, I don’t know how this rubber man issue is resolved, but it bubbled over to the floor of the House. And, it’s not what Democrats, I suppose, want to be talking about on, at the same time that the Jeffrey Epstein files may finally, be, voted on to…
Jen Rubin
Exactly.
Lynn Sweet
Put them nice into the.
Jen Rubin
Nope. This could prove embarrassing, perhaps, for his, solely, designated successor, but in point in fact, that’s not going to change, the… list of Democrats, which comes down to one person. So… How viable in this overwhelmingly democratic city would a independent run be by one or more of these chagrined, potential competitors, considering that for the other seats, there’s a list the length of your arm of candidates who are anxious to take one of these seats.
Lynn Sweet
Well, let me… let me explain to everyone the mathematics behind this. In the Schikowsky District, the Danny Davis District, the Rajakrishnam Morty District, he’s quitting to run for Senate, and in the Robin Kelly District, she’s also running for Senate. about a dozen people in each of those districts filed to run, because they know if you get elected, you’re probably going to be in for a long time. But that means… You could win with a plurality. You may be nominated with 19% when all these people are running. If you have… if you’re running as an independent against Patty, Garcia, no relation, you have to really win a lot in the primary.
Jen Rubin
Yes.
Lynn Sweet
You don’t have to get 19, or 20, 21, you have to get 51. And if you’re an alderman in Chicago, you may be not known in the rest of the district. It’s still a big district, it goes into suburbs. You may not have the alliances, it’s kind of late in the game to start making them with the suburban mayors and all that. Presumably, this Chief of staff, Patty Gomez, will inherit some kind of an organization or a list, knows what We know who’s, who, who truly’s been helping, So, that’s kind of the situation that it… and I forget what the rules are about getting on the ballot as an independent, but you need a lot of signatures.
Jen Rubin
Yes. Yeah.
Lynn Sweet
Because, again, our system in Illinois is rigged in favor of helping Democratic and Republican parties. So, you need fewer signatures if you’re running as a party candidate, more when you’re trying to do an independent. So, there’s a lot of this mathematics of politics here that have to do with people running. But the more people get in, the easier it will be for someone perhaps, to have a chance if they can move fast, and I don’t know… Yeah, certainly Patty’s… who made her campaign official a few days ago. She’s starting out not in a great position to introduce herself around the district.
Jen Rubin
Well, I think, you, Lynn, have gone from the frying pan to the fire. After covering this really calamitous series of events involving the federal government, you are headed into an election season with five, congressional seats.
Lynn Sweet
and a Senate seat, all on the ballot, and of course, a governor who has presidential aspirations in 2028. So I suspect you’re going to have a busy 2020.
Jen Rubin
Choice.
Lynn Sweet
And a former mayor who’s testing the waters.
Jen Rubin
Exactly, exactly. Well, we are thrilled to have you there, to shed it all, all the light you can. And thank you, and thank your colleagues at the Chicago Times, and at… BC, and, for all the great work they do. It shows how important, regional journalism, city journalism is, because that’s how we’ve learned, really all there is to know. So thank you so much, and we’ll look forward to seeing you next week!
Lynn Sweet
Thank you, Jen.
