Illinois Gov. Pritzker urges Noem to pause ICE for Halloween

(CHICAGO, ILLINOIS) Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on October 30, 2025 asked South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to intervene to pause Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations during Halloween celebrations, following an incident in Chicago’s Old Irving Park where federal officers reportedly deployed tear gas during a children’s Halloween parade. The request came after families and children walking to a neighborhood Halloween event were disrupted when ICE agents fired tear gas, according to accounts referenced in available reports from the area.

Pritzker addressed his appeal to Noem because she serves as chair of the Republican Governors Association, positioning her to push for a temporary halt to enforcement activity tied to the holiday. He asked to “please let children be children” during Halloween, framing the request as a narrowly focused pause aimed at keeping community festivities free from immigration enforcement actions that could frighten or disperse families. The governor’s office emphasized that the appeal was directly related to the Old Irving Park incident and the desire to prevent similar disruptions as families gather for seasonal events.

The episode in Old Irving Park, a Northwest Side neighborhood in Chicago, has sharpened attention on how immigration enforcement intersects with public, kid-centered celebrations. Reports from the neighborhood described ICE agents firing tear gas as families and children were en route to a Halloween event, interrupting a community outing that typically features costumes, treats, and short parades along residential streets. Pritzker’s request seeks to ensure that these kinds of neighborhood traditions are not overshadowed by enforcement activity, particularly at events intended for children.

The appeal underscores ongoing tensions between state leaders and federal immigration policies when those policies are carried out in community settings. Officials in Illinois have voiced concerns in various contexts about enforcement actions that ripple through schools, churches, and public gatherings, and Pritzker’s letter sits squarely in that debate. The governor’s request reflects a practical question that often arises around holidays: whether federal operations should be adjusted to avoid alarming families at public celebrations. In this case, the ask is pointed and time-bound—pause ICE operations specifically around Halloween events—rather than a broader policy change.

Noem’s role matters because, as chair of a national political organization of Republican governors, she is well placed to convey requests or concerns that touch multiple states or national enforcement practices. By appealing to her, Pritzker is not seeking to rewrite federal law but rather to shape how enforcement is carried out during a short window when families and children gather in public in large numbers. While the request is limited in scope, the signal is clear: state leaders want to avoid a repeat of the tear gas incident that rattled Old Irving Park.

The involvement of ICE, formally known as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is central to the governor’s appeal. The agency conducts federal immigration enforcement, including arrests and removals, and its presence at a neighborhood Halloween event in Chicago is what transformed a local parade into a flashpoint. Pritzker’s approach focuses on timing and context, asking for a brief pause so that children can attend parades and trick-or-treat without encountering enforcement activity, especially tactics like tear gas that can scatter crowds and cause panic.

The Old Irving Park incident provides the immediate backdrop. Families were walking to a Halloween event when tear gas was deployed, and the scene reportedly disrupted the parade environment. That set off concerns about whether ICE actions would continue through Halloween celebrations across Chicago and beyond. Pritzker’s office has not released additional information about the individuals involved, and the available accounts do not include direct statements from families in the parade. But the description of federal officers firing tear gas as children and parents moved to a holiday event has spurred calls, beginning with the governor’s intervention request, to shield kid-centered gatherings from enforcement operations, at least for the holiday period.

State and federal roles often collide in the public eye when immigration enforcement takes place around civic or family events. Pritzker’s letter distills a long-running tension into a single, urgent ask tied to a specific night of the year. By directing the request to Noem in her national political capacity, Illinois is seeking a pragmatic path to avoid a second confrontation like the one in Old Irving Park, without wading into the full sweep of immigration policy debates. The message he attached to that ask—“please let children be children”—is intended to resonate beyond party lines by centering the safety and calm of children at holiday events.

There were no immediate details released about whether Noem would seek such a pause or whether federal authorities would agree to adjust operations around Halloween as requested. The available materials do not include a response from Noem, ICE, or federal officials. The scope of Pritzker’s request appears to be limited to the Halloween period, aligned to neighborhood events that bring families onto sidewalks and into community centers. The focus is on preventing a repeat of the Old Irving Park disruption rather than formal changes to broader enforcement strategies.

The lack of additional public information about who was affected in Old Irving Park, and how many people were present, leaves unanswered questions about the scale of the disruption. But the key facts are not in dispute in the accounts cited: an incident involving tear gas during a children’s parade and a prompt request from Illinois’ governor for a pause in operations to prevent further unrest as Halloween festivities continue. That sequence—incident first, request second—anchors Pritzker’s appeal to Noem and is the reason the governor moved quickly ahead of holiday events.

While immigration enforcement often takes place out of sight, its visibility at a children’s parade in Chicago made it a community story, not just a policy one. Parents typically expect a calm path to and from neighborhood events, and the involvement of ICE drew the issue into the center of local holiday planning. Pritzker’s move suggests he wants to set a firm marker for the Halloween period: ensure that children can walk, line up, and enjoy treats without enforcement actions unfurling nearby. The request, concise in its rationale and limited in timeframe, is calibrated to the moment.

The political dynamics are also unavoidable. Pritzker, a Democrat leading a large Midwestern state, turned to Noem, a Republican who chairs the GOP governors’ national group, for assistance. The outreach highlights a practical bridge across party politics to address a specific, immediate concern that grew out of the Old Irving Park incident. It also shows how state leaders sometimes seek influence over federal action through peer-to-peer channels, especially when timing is tight and the stakes are focused on families and children.

For now, the situation rests on whether the requested pause will materialize and whether Halloween events will proceed in Chicago and elsewhere without the presence of ICE in ways that might alarm families. Pritzker’s appeal, captured in his call to “please let children be children,” marks a clear attempt to lower the temperature around holiday gatherings. It remains to be seen whether the intervention from Noem, if she chooses to pursue it, will keep enforcement away from the kind of neighborhood setting where a children’s parade in Old Irving Park was met with tear gas and an immediate call for restraint.