Left-wing Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has joined the group of Democrats coming to the defense of illegal gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia and wants Illinois to divest from companies based in El Salvador.
Pritzker announced that the state will take punitive actions against the country of El Salvador for holding Abrego Garcia in custody. Meanwhile, recent reports from both the Wall Street Journal and Politico are quoting sources that say Pritzker is considering a possible 2028 presidential run, MyStateline.com reports.
Pritzker has asked the Illinois State Board of Investment, the State Universities Retirement System, and the Teachers’ Retirement System to review any investments in companies controlled by El Salvador and withhold investments in those companies, MyStateline.com reports.
The Governor also has directed the Illinois Department of Central Management Services to identify state contracts with companies that are controlled by El Salvador, with the purpose of stopping them.
And, Pritzker wants the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Office of Trade and Investment to send in an analysis of the scale of trade El Salvador has with Illinois.
Abrego Garcia entered the country illegally and has known ties to MS-13, a federal terrorist organization. He also had run-ins with police for affiliating with MS-13 members, and charges of domestic violence and human trafficking between 2019-2022. He was deported to his home country of El Salvador in March by the Trump administration.
Abrego Garcia has been characterized as a Maryland “family man” by his family, attorneys, Democratic lawmakers and media outlets. Two previous judges ordered that he should be deported, but the issue is a 2019 court order barring his deportation to El Salvador due to fear of persecution.
On Tuesday, a federal judge said that President Donald Trump and his administration is ignoring court orders and obstructing the legal process, further asserting the Trump administration is acting in “bad faith” by not pushing for Garcia’s release from an El Salvador prison.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration nearly two weeks ago to facilitate Garcia’s return to the U.S. However, he is technically a citizen of El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has taken a tough stance on gangs in an effort to bring law and order back to his country.
Both Trump and Bukele have called Abrego Garcia a terrorist due to his ties to the MS-13 gang.
Pritzker’s political stunt should come as no surprise, considering Illinois is sanctuary jurisdiction that refuses to fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. In August 2021, Pritzker signed four bills to expand protections for immigrant and refugee communities.
In February 2025, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Pritzker dug in on the state’s pro-immigration policies, vowing to leverage state law to limit the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, Capitol News Illinois reports.
In response, the Trump administration filed suit against the state, Cook County and Chicago over their respective sanctuary laws. The state’s TRUST Act, enacted in 2017, prevents local authorities from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement with civil immigration enforcement or asking people about their immigration status.
Pritzker seems to be siding with illegal immigrants over his own residents, who have been vocal about crime, homelessness and issues related to the influx of migrants in the city of Chicago and surrounding areas in the state. A February audit by GOP lawmakers in the state found that Illinois spent a staggering $1.6 billion to fund healthcare programs for illegal migrants since 2020.
Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, also co-founded the Pritzker Group, a private investment firm. He’s worth an estimated $3.7 billion and has been a vocal critic of President Trump.
He continues to position himself in global affairs, which has included signing trade agreements with the State of Mexico and the United Kingdom.
However, Chicago residents blasted a possible Pritzker presidential run in a Fox News report released Thursday, saying he has no chance to win. Pritzker has been called to testify before a May 15 House Oversight Committee hearing to address the shortcomings of the sanctuary state, as first reported by Fox News Digital.
“A sanctuary city governor who provides more support to migrants than poor Illinois residents in need,” founder of Chicago Community Roundtable and Chicago resident Cata Truss told Fox News Digital. “Do we really want him representing this country?”
