Chicagoland criminals expanding enterprises by training migrants for suburban crime sprees: expert | Fox News
By: Emma Colton (Fox News)
So they are getting jobs.........................../S
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Criminal enterprises in the Chicago area are benefiting from the migrant crisis as they recruit illegal migrants to carry out crimes with little legal repercussions, a retired Illinois police chief says.
Criminal enterprises in the Chicago area are benefiting from the migrant crisis as they recruit illegal immigrants to carry out crimes with little legal repercussions, a former Illinois police chief says.
"The frustration with this migrant crime is really, I think, going to boil over," retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview Monday. "You can pull up any article and see that some of these migrants are being arrested three and four and five times, over and over again, and released to commit more crime. … It's not an exaggeration to say that it's a revolving door. And the police officers are saying, 'Just forget it. Why bother? Why bother even making the arrest?'"
Chicago and its surrounding areas have been the target of repeated migrant crimes, including quiet suburban malls seeing groups of people who illegally entered the U.S. ripping off department stores such as Macy's.
Since August 2022, Chicago has seen an estimated 35,000 migrants flood the city after they illegally crossed the southern border in Texas, which bussed or flew them north.
Weitzel served as police chief of Riverside, a suburban village in Cook County located about five miles outside Chicago, from 2008 to 2021, when he retired. He served in law enforcement for 37 years, which included him being ambushed and shot in the line of duty in 1987 by Chicago criminals.
The former police chief said that before the migrant crisis exploded in northern cities, Chicago was already dealing with 2020's crime wave that seeped into suburban towns.
"Individuals from the city, gang members, and even gang enterprises, would send individuals out to the suburbs to commit crimes at the suburban malls or residential areas for burglaries. And they would always flee back east to Chicago. That was a pattern that happened every single week," Weitzel said of crime issues pre-migrant crisis.
Now, the pool of criminals has seemingly expanded as some migrants land in the city and link up with criminals, gangs and criminal businesses that show them the ropes on how and where to commit crime, Weitzel said.
Migrants are dropped off at landing zones and "immediately targeted by these organizations to go out and commit crime," Weitzel said.
"Because would a migrant know where Oak Brook, Illinois, is, which has a very large, high-end shopping mall? Or Lombard, Illinois, or North Riverside, Illinois, which are all communities that have malls. They have no idea those communities even exist. They would have no idea how to get there, where they're located from the city of Chicago transportation. And these criminal enterprises are providing that for these migrants," he said.
Two Venezuelan migrants - 28-year-old Luis Mendez-Gomez and 23-year-old Frank Montez-Davila - were arrested last October after they allegedly stole nearly $3,000 in high-end cosmetics from the Macy's store in Oak Brook, Illinois.(DuPage County State's Attorney)
The quiet suburbs have been the site of repeated migrant crimes. Oak Brook, Illinois' Macy's location was targeted by six migrants in two separate shoplifting incidents on the same day last month, when the suspects reportedly tried to make off with thousands of dollars in merchandise. In both cases, the migrants were granted pre-trial release after a judge denied the state's motion to hold them in jail.
"I believe that six felony arrests in one day illustrates that migrant criminal activity is a real problem," said Oak Brook Police Chief Brian Strockis said at the time. "The amount of these types of arrests that we have had in the last couple of months is significant and would be taxing for any police department. We are well-prepared to continue our enforcement efforts and I can assure you that there are easier places to commit these crimes than Oak Brook or DuPage County."
Fox News Digital previously reported that between Oct. 23 and Jan. 17, a total of 47 migrants were arrested in Oak Brook, mostly for property-related crimes. Oak Brook is roughly 20 miles from Chicago and is home to about 8,000 people.
"[Criminals are] giving them transportation, directing them to the buses and trains that go out to the suburbs. They're telling them where these high-end retail stores are in the mall, such as Macy's or other types of retail businesses that they don't even know exist," Weitzel said of how migrants even know to target malls like Oak Brooks' shopping centers.
"That would be like me … being dropped off in the middle of a city in Ecuador. And I wouldn't know where the grocery stores are, the schools are, a police station. I would know nothing. The same is happening in the city of Chicago," he said.
Weitzel added that in many cases, migrants try to fight police or flee when caught allegedly committing crimes. He pointed to police reports that often detail a foot or vehicle pursuit before a migrant suspect is arrested.
He also said that such crimes could cripple suburban police departments, which often employ just a dozen officers and are not equipped for an influx of arrests and would become overwhelmed.
Strockis told Fox News Digital that some of the migrant arrests were in relation to the theft of products worth more than $10,000, which he said is a "good indicator that they are part of a larger criminal network."
"We have seen arrests where the recovered stolen property was in excess of 10,000 dollars. That would demonstrate that these migrants are not stealing just for themselves because they crossed the border with limited clothing. That's a good indicator that they are part of a larger criminal network. Additionally, we have had many arrests of migrant offenders that had recent arrests for the same types of crimes in the Chicagoland area," Strockis told Fox News Digital on Monday.
"Clearly, these offenders are not committing one-off crime, but we will continue to enforce the law in a proactive manner in Oak Brook."
In one case last month, the Cook County Sheriff's Office arrested three men accused of running a fraudulent ID operation in which they allegedly targeted migrants and instructed them to shoplift in exchange for phony IDs.
Francisco Otero-Rosas, left, Kenneth Ulloa-Rodriguez and Facundo Meneses-Garcia of Chicago are facing felony charges for obtaining fake ID cards, which police said they sold to other migrants so they could gain employment.(Cooke County Sheriff)
Weitzel said the illegal business of creating fake driver's licenses or IDs has long been an issue, especially among youths trying to get into bars before their 21st birthday, but that leveraging such an operation to get migrants to commit crime is a new phenomenon.
"So, what's happening now is that these individuals arrested by the Cook County Sheriff's police are an organization that's producing these identifications. All of them fictitious state IDs, driver's license, Social Security cards. They're either selling them to the migrants or they're telling them where to go [to] commit the crimes in the suburbs. And then when they sell those proceeds, they give a certain amount of that cash they get to the organization that has produced the fake IDs for them," he said.
Other migrants crossing the border are already affiliated with gangs, Weitzel said, and are helped to cross the border by U.S.-based criminal enterprises.
"These are organizations, mainly in Mexico, that are getting these individuals over the border, and then they have people in place in Chicago and other major cities [who are a part of the] criminal organization that then set out on having some of these individuals, not all migrants, but a majority … out to commit crime," he said.
izations aren't focused just on retail theft but also human trafficking, prostitution and drug running, he said.
"Believe me, these are calculated organizations that know what they're doing. It's not some fly-by-night operations. And there are documented gang members from Mexico and other nations because ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the Department of Justice and even local police, Cook County Sheriff's police, are constantly putting out intelligence bulletins to police departments through their networks," he said.
In addition to the migrant crisis coming at a time when U.S. cities are working to correct the wildly violent crime trends of 2020 - when murders nationwide increased by nearly 30% compared to the year prior - Illinois police departments are in the midst of navigating a relatively new law that eliminated cash bail.
Starting in September, judges no longer require suspects charged with crimes to post bail in order to leave jail while they await trial. Suspects deemed a threat to the public or those who are likely to flee can still be required to remain in jail.
The elimination of cash bail, which was part of the 2021 criminal justice reform bill called the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, was set to take effect in Illinois on Jan. 1, 2023, but it was met with fierce legal pushback from dozens of sheriffs and prosecutors in the state who said the law was unconstitutional, diminished public safety and put law enforcement at risk. Amid legal battles, the Illinois Supreme Court ultimately ruled in July that the elimination of cash bail did not violate the state constitution and allowed the law to proceed.
"I was against the SAFE-T Act from day one," Weitzel said. "It's a law now, it's here in Illinois, there's no way for us to avoid it. So, is it affecting all crime in Illinois? I believe, absolutely. And I believe that will bear out when the data comes out over the years."
Weitzel walked Fox News Digital through how migrants are now processed under the SAFE-T Act if they are arrested for allegedly committing crimes. He said that they are brought into the police station, where officers most often have to find a translator, and then fingerprinted. The migrants often don't have a criminal record in the state, let alone the country, Weitzel said.
"Illinois, specifically Chicago, will not allow their police officers to contact ICE or other federal organizations because it's a sanctuary city and a sanctuary state. So, we're not allowed to hold individuals on ICE hold, and we're not allowed to communicate. So, if they were in those types of federal databases, we're not going to know. And then they arrest them, process them and release them right back in, because in most cases, the crimes that they commit do not qualify under the SAFE-T Act to hold them. They're released from the police facility," he said.
Weitzel added that many of the migrants do not make their bond court hearing, while those who do are "almost always" released back into the public with another court date.
"And remember, they're providing false names, false dates of birth and fictitious addresses because all these migrants that were arrested in the suburbs are listing their addresses as a migrant shelter in the city of Chicago. So, none of that information is factual. So, if a warrant was ever to be put out for these individuals, that warrant is useless," he added.
The entire process, Weitzel said, will cause police to throw up their hands and ask "why bother" arresting migrants or criminals if they land right back on the streets to re-offend.
"When the police officers say, 'Why bother?' citizens better listen up because there'll be no proactive policing; no policing where officers are out looking for crimes and trying to prevent crimes, not just responding to these crimes [but] actually doing something proactive with it. And when that day happens, I don't think the residents of Illinois really want to see the consequences," he said.
Calling members trolls or dishonest will cause your comments to be deleted. No Trump, fascist crap, memes, source dissing.
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Resourceful little crooks............is this a form of slavery?
It will be a form of slavery when your little crooks land in prison.
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I would not worry about it Jeremy. Of course I read the article. Of course, it is one-sided. Of course, it a big whine that offers no hope for a solution except: Trump. The nation does not have time for this. Get on the fix it team. We should not be proud of sitting around like "porch-sitters" rocking the day away. . . with warming blankets. . . gossiping and complaining about how bitter life is. (While letting a bi-partisan immigration bill die in the House of Representatives-GOP edition.)
One could be forgiven if they think MAGAs want Chicago to "sit this one out," so MAGAs can continue to whine, moan, bitch and groan, about problems for which MAGAs will provide no solution. When MAGA had its chance for four years of Trump. . . Nikki Haley says only 50 miles of border wall was built. I repeat: Haley says Trump only got 50 miles of new wall completed in four years of his leadership.
Bluster, cuss, and grandstand all MAGAs want. . .the situation above has solutions. But MAGAs are in the problem business - that's one-sided. Hey MAGAs! Fix something, and be about the business of problem-solving instead of bitching and moaning propaganda.
Toyko Rose, Bagdad Bob, and Donald Trump are enough propaganda spokespeople dead and alive.
[deleted] You seem to be obsessing about something called a MAGA, which you're unable to define. I've searched your comments for a long time looking for any logical reasoning ability and have come up with no evidence of such. [deleted]
Blame Abbott for sending them there.
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The moving companies won't go in their neighborhood to help them move out
Only the triggered Perrie. Only the triggered ….
Chicago really doesn't need to import crime. That's one job natives will unquestionably do.
And they do not want citizens to have the right to have guns to protect themselves.
Only gang members and criminals are allowed guns.
Untrue. MAGAs are saturated in guns. You know, lots to fear from your fellow citizenry. . .that you all have known all your lives.
So back up your claim.
Your right there are enough problems here already here so why let more in?
We don't own the country, Charger. We are stewards of it. BTW, it is immigration that makes this country great. We're too old and used up. . . new blood is needed beyond your children. Incidentally, it is that new blood that comes with 'world' ideas about entrepreneurship and a world-class perspective.
This country is over full, responsible stewards would recognize that.
This country is over full?
What the fuck?
Legal is fine. I truly doubt there are many entrepreneurs in the rag tag bunch we have seen for the last three years and more. They would come the legal way and not break the law to start. Perhaps you were speaking of world class perspective on how to clean a hotel room or cook a meal.
too many people here already.
water resources are already a problem
People cause climate change that many complain about. More people here make it worse.
No, that's not true.
So humans don't cause climate change. GREAT to know. One of your compadres here is always spouting off about anthropogenic climate change. Is he full of shit now?
Then what causes it? Do you agree with those who say it is a natural event or cycle?
United States Population (LIVE)
No friend Charger, the country is not full. That is simply not the case. In fact, the population of the United States (birthrate) was declining before it began to tick upward (wonder if immigrants are helping raise the "growth rate").
You left out LEGAL immigration. There is a difference between what you are supporting and LEGAL immigration.
you like being crowded?
Quality is better than quantity
Again, as you can see we're only 4 percent of the world's population and our migrant population is lower than it was in earlier years. We have plenty good room! And more importantly. . . we don't own the country. . . it's a world-class democracy of blended peoples from around the 'globe' that make us who we are today.
I am not going to dignify MAGAs narrow view of migrants (but you like your beds and restaurants clean: You betcha!), or petty MAGAs insults against the same people who are fleeing 'whatever' is justified wrong in the world. My suggestion to MAGAs: If you don't want people to come to this country. . . let it deteriorate and lose its "shine bright like a diamond" lure and watch them head elsewhere.
Otherwise, fix the national immigration policy by taking the bi-partisan bill offered by a conservative's conservative Senator Lankford and democrats teaming up (as compromise is the name of this game) and not glossing over it because it is "inconvenient" to the griping, bitching, and moaning that goes for discussion amongst MAGAs.
That's both insulting and racist. So that is all you feel migrant can contribute?
Congress much. It is the 'keep' for U.S. laws. Bitch and moan, whine and gripe to Congress.
The more people here makes it worse is what I said is not true to those who are getting their panties in a bunch about my remark.
I can't quantify or qualify such rhetoric and neither can you friend Charger.
That crowded remark is nonsense also.
C'mon George give it a break already. Don't just register digs: Lean into the discussion positively. MAGAs should give Negative Nat a day off from the jeering squad.
You're correct, it's not 'full' or 'over-full', that's just silly.
Interesting, pop density nationally is 96 per square mile.
Last I checked my country and particular town, it's 6 per square mile, but my immediate area is mostly corn, hay, barley and beet fields with some scattered cattle operations, just the way I like it.
I’m sorry that you live so deprived from urban diversity.
Do not take this the wrong way, but. . . this is clarifying. . . as you have just supplied the plain rationale for why cities should matter more than rural (empty of people) plains and farmlands. Of course! These areas are our 'bread-baskets' and are deserving of our highest respect. . .and so I will give them each and every time I am asked. It does bear pointing out explicitly: People Lives Matter. Cities are where the 'bulk' of this nation's citizens reside for a variety of reasons.
Therefore, our national politicians should just stop trying to tear asunder and limb from body our national unified Spirit.
The politics of division practiced and being perfected by the GOP/MAGA is going to fail as it can not succeed. Because facts do matter and will always matter at the end of every day and end of every movement.
Those who badmouth cities and municipalities (on the Right 99.9 percent of the time) are placing a curse on their left arm when they permit their right arm to lie against it. We're all, every last citizen, part of the whole makeup of the country.
As they say everyone's entitled to their own opinion.
I don't share the opinion offered in the post, specifically on importance of one over the other.
I will just leave it at that.
Still don't change the fact that we are all we, you and me, Got! This nation can tear itself apart, play the fool and downgrade itself (political suicide), lose its number One status, damage its brand/image in the world, and then all this bull-talk that comes around and goes around will come front and center PETTY in an instance.
We should not have to destroy our government, union, to realize that we are all we got. . . and we got here together- all of us! We are all standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before; I suggest we don't collapse the system (again).
And to that end, it is an argument for why Donald Trump has to go (away)! That man is toxic to this republic!
Only to the triggered
Thank you for clarifying for us that Trump is fine with you! The man is TOXIC to this republic- whether or not MAGAs can see or feel it or not!
I didn’t stutter.
Mmmmmm, no, we are not all we, there is you and there is me, other than that we disagree.
To you I wish the best of luck figuring out what you will do.
As long as it doesn't involve me figured in how and what you will do.
Nor do I.
Clever, but does not FIX anything. Oh well, it is what it is. In the meantime. . . just keep tearing our shared society a 'new' one. Here's one for you:
I can't make you love me if you don't, and I can't make you feel something that you won't. . . . Credit: Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin; first recorded by Bonnie Raitt in 1990 and released in 1991.
The "FIX" you think is needed I disagree with and want nothing to do with, but in order for it to happen in the way you want, you need me more than I need you. And that ends up being your problem more than it is mine.
Got it! Moving on now. Bye.
We all know the current POTUS is. But here you are supporting him.
No one needs you - sounds like you're the one with a personal problem.
Au contraire, citizens do have guns according (and beyond it too) the constitution - MAGAs see to that. We have bullet ridden schools to worry about because of you (all) and they have nothing to do with migrants.
Besides, the lie goes that MAGAs don't complain, whine, bitch, or moan but this article is a "bitch-fest" MAGA-style. Stealing is a crime, but it is hyperbole to try to make a "mountainous" whine for political purposes:
It is MAGA that tells the country and NTers that our laws can handle any situation. So, I say: MAGAs be consistent! Let the legal system play out for these offenders as you let it play out for those you selectively side with on every issue/problem 'known to man.'
I can't be the only one that when I see that sees the person saying it stomping their feet in circles, pulling at their hair and shrieking it at the top of their lungs while spitting drool everywhere.
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Since when do Democrats respect laws or the Constitution?
Laws only work if they apply to everyone equally.
"MAGA" can't control corrupt partisan Democrat AG's/DA's that pull shit.
.
Democrats do love their criminals- to the point where they are willing to charge the innocent trying to protect them.
So funny. You have time to try at "jokes."
Awwwww …. offend some delicate sensibilities did I?
I could challenge you to put the "goalpost" back where it was before you moved it, because "it does not follow" that there is a clear and solid connection to happening from 2021 to happenings in this article (dated 2024). Work remains for you to make a proper (and valid) connection to the same.
Don't lecture what you can't teach, I'm just saying.
Picking stories off the web is a convenience, not a win to a debate.
4.2 It is MAGA that tells the country and NTers that our laws can handle any situation. So, I say: MAGAs be consistent! Let the legal system play out for these offenders as you let it play out for those you selectively side with on every issue/problem,
As usual, the naysayers job is to criticize, but offer no real solution. . . even going so far as to let an immigration bill die in congress (as if the chance to solve the problem in congress (where it needs to be permanently fixed) happens routinely—it does not. But, critics got to moan.
Well, if MAGAs are consistent (they are not) they would not complain about Illinois problem of bussed in migrants needing fixing, because MAGAs does not complain about guns everywhere, because of their policies, or their immunity-less face-clown with a "Trump-load" of cases roaming the country and working to devour it.
The solution has been offered for YEARS. But, as a good lemming, you just blindly follow the path the Democrats have laid out for you.
The bill you blather on about does nothing without a secure border. Something Traitor Joe has had the ability to correct since taking office.
And at this point, any credibility you had to carry on a conversation just went down the drain.
Flushed. It was flushed down the drain..............
It's a childish chant that they THINK makes them sound like they know what they are talking about.
Explain it in detail. Don't leave anything important out. . . please.
It does more bi-partisan work than anything MAGAs imagine they will get pushed through. Excuse me for stating the obvious: four years of Trump and Haley says he got MAGAs only 50 miles of new wall. Damn. Four years.
The saying goes: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
MAGAs your policy proposition is still in the thorny bush! And, while so. Migrants continue to come.
Thanks. /s
Explain it in detail
Is "Secure the border" too many words for you understand?
Oh look, it's the Wall Street Journal. You should read it.
I am impervious to MAGA insults, in case you are checking. Just saying.
Don't need a bill. It was an EO that stopped any work to secure the border. An EO can secure it. As far as funding? All that can come from the money being wasted on Ukraine.
did you see where I said I cared? Oh, wait. Because I don't.
In case you are wondering (and even if you are not) everyone is impervious to your calling everyone MAGA.
As far as we know, you are not a sitting member of congress or a member of the president's cabinet, or president.
As Lincoln, you know that republican MAGAs 'love' to associate themselves with, explicitly realized if you want a permanent law that can't be swept away in a new presidential administration, he encouraged the congress of his day to pass a bill into law regarding important national policy matters.
Be consistent. Congress has an over-sized role to play here and you are assenting to them House republicans doing nothing. Remember that, the next time MAGAs fix their digital 'pen' to whine, moan, bitch, and complain.
MAGAs, plural. Since you are impervious, then do not mind statement of the obvious. Let's move back into the stream of discussion.
Not easy to do since MAGA is part of the stream of the vast majority of your comments
I am consistent. You just can't keep up with reality. And your deflections are evidence of that. House Republicans have nothing to do with it. Traitor Joe signed an EO that stopped any work to secure the border. He can sign an EO can secure it. No bill needed.
Like a child throwing a tantrum.
You don't have to respond to that. I read material here all day long and don't bother with responding to everything that others write. It's a discipline.
Wow. That happened. Congress is just supposed to get paid for 'being' I see (and tax-cuts). Go figure. I guess tax cuts is enough to satisfy GOP working 'stiffs' that all is well in the world of politics: Thus, there should be no complaint from MAGAs. Clearly, it is what it is.
And we're off to la la land. I made no mention of any of that. Please try to keep up.
And yet here you are.
That's what happens when you try (and fail miserably) to make nonsense look legitimate.
I am sure everyone here picks and chooses what to respond to.
Or fascist, or traitor. and the ever present trump deflection.
It's a Tourette Syndrome like tick. They can't control it. It's a sign that they've bought into the gaslighting.
What's really sad about it is, they actually think it makes them look smart or have some kind of valid point.
And their usually defending a problem that those they support caused like it's a good thing.
No, you have made yourself clearer than you realize. It is evidenced by inductive reasoning of your commentaries that tax cuts are MAGAs's delight when approved by congress. Otherwise, apparently, there is little if anything MAGAs want from a GOP House of congressional members on immigration. . . as they pine away after a democratic president fulfilling their wish list!
"Breaking News" the GOP won't support the sitting democratic president fixing the border issue, because Trump (that crass FOOL who can't understand that former presidents are usually quiet about active policy matters when they are 'benched) who did not fix the issue when he had control of it and GOP House and Senate - says don't do it!
Wasn't the GOP House and Senate that stopped it........................
Once again. Read this slowly and multiple times.
There is no need for Congress. It was an EO that stopped any work to secure the border. An EO can secure it.
He doesn't understand that. It's all about the deflection away from the problem.
Yes, here I am. I don't see a conflict. It speaks volumes that you do.
[✘]
[Member is not the topic]
It is the duties and responsibilities of the congress, as lawmakers, to make lasting and enduring laws. Read that slowly and productively.
Pretty simple. It wasn't the GOP that stopped the wall. Get it now?
Stopped stay in Mexico,
End asylum claims if not at a port of entry.
Further elaboration is needed as to who stopped the wall.
[✘]
What part of what I said in 5.1.32 is so hard for you to comprehend? There is no need for Congress. It was an EO that stopped any work to secure the border. An EO can secure it.
You can say it until we are both blue in the face, it won't change the fact that laws are made in congress and not in the White House!
And it would still be ineffective and dumb!
It would be a deterrent and not dumb. But first, the administration needs to get tougher on the border like it was during the prior administration and quit just throwing up their respective hands.
. . . .
Legislative history
As of August 3, 2022:
(D-CA)
(D-NJ)
The U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 was a legislative bill that was proposed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office. [1] [2] [3] It was formally introduced in the House by Representative Linda Sánchez . [4] It died with the ending of the 117th Congress.
He's so gaslit that he's not going to get that.
That bill must of been a complete piece of shit if Nancy Pelosi let it die in committee. But then when has Biden ever proposed anything that wasn't a complete piece of shit.
The truth?
So true jbb.
Like the prior criminal enterprise of an administration of the former 'president'?
Member is not the topic.
It took comfort in how fast these migrants are acclimating to current American culture in places like Chicago.
It's going to take some serious work (that democrats are afraid of) to clean up this garbage.
[✘]
True, more like MAWA. ….. make America worse again. No problem there for Biden. He is excelling at MAWA.
[✘]
Yes, apparently open to making America worse …
That much is obvious.
Crime in Chicago you say? I am shocked, utterly shocked!
Crime in any big city? I am shocked, utterly shocked!