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EXCLUSIVE: As the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts are met with continued resistance in Chicago, FBI Director Kash Patel passionately defended the bureau’s supporting role in the Windy City, telling Fox News Digital that agents are “just doing their job to safeguard the streets.”
Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were on the ground touring the Chicago field office on Tuesday morning and explaining why the FBI needed to “flex resources” to help DHS.
“The environment here in Chicago needs a focused effort, not just on crushing violent crime, but also, removing the illegal aliens that are correlated to that violent crime,” Patel told Fox News Digital. “And that’s a result over years of failures in policies by the prior administration to allow so many illegal aliens and so much criminal activity to occur here in Chicago, in the state of Illinois.”
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FBI Director Kash Patel toured the FBI Chicago field office on Oct. 7, 2025. (Fox News)
While immigration enforcement isn’t a typical part of the FBI’s job, Patel said that “every single three-letter agency” in the Trump administration is “driving towards the same mission.” He called the concerted campaign a “whole-of-government approach.”
And Patel added that the mission goes well beyond immigration enforcement, also touching on narcotics distribution, government officials who are suddenly being targeted for death and agents whose lives are being endangered.
Patel lauded the efforts of the officers serving with the Chicago Police Dept., calling them “great partners” and saying “they are doing their job with us every single day.”He drew a stark contrast, however, between the rank-and-file and their bosses.”
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker speaks during a press conference amid reports of federal deployments to Chicago Sept. 2, 2025. (Kamil Krazaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
But they report to the elected leadership,” he said. “And I think it’s our duty to call those out who prioritize illegal immigrants and crime over those that they serve in the city they’re supposed to protect. So I’ll call it out for as long as it takes.”
President Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy National Guard troops to protect federal officials and property in Chicago has already been kicked to the courts.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel spoke to Fox News Digital during their visit to Chicago. (Screenshot/Fox News Digital)
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But Blanche said it’s clear that the Guard is needed to help clean up the high-crime streets of Chicago.
“I mean, at this point, it’s almost laughable, laughable that the state government is standing up and saying, don’t let the National Guard in,” Blanche said. “I mean, they have access to the same TV that I have access to. And of course, we need the National Guard.”
