Welcome to February, quotes readers! One month down, 11 more to go.
The week started off with a series of immigration raids in Chicago on Sunday. The raids and arrests, conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, continued across the city and suburbs throughout the week, with CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling saying more than 100 people from the Chicago area had been taken into custody.
This week’s immigration blitz was just one step in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. On Wednesday, he announced a plan to open a detention center at Guantanamo Bay to hold up to 30,000 of the “worst criminal aliens” in the United States, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the administration revoked deportation protections for roughly 600,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S., putting some at risk of being removed from the country in two months.
On Wednesday night, an Army helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines passenger jet just before landing at the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington D.C., sending the aircraft plummeting into the Potomac River. All 60 passengers aboard the plane and the flight crews operating both aircraft were killed. While recovery efforts are still underway, the National Transportation Safety Board has begun an investigation into the cause of the crash.
The deadliest U.S. air disaster in almost a quarter century came just hours after Sean Duffy, the new secretary of transportation, was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in. Also confirmed this week? Doug Burgum as interior secretary and Lee Zeldin, who will lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel were grilled in back-to-back confirmation hearings Thursday.
The Trump administration issued a federal funding freeze this week, causing widespread tumult and confusion among social service agencies, nonprofits and universities. The White House then rescinded the plan a day later. The president also told reporters Thursday that his 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are coming Saturday — though he was still considering whether to include oil from those countries as part of his import taxes.
The jury began deliberations in former House Speaker Michael Madigan’s landmark public corruption case, nearly four months after they were first called to Chicago’s federal courthouse. A verdict has yet to be returned, so jurors will return Monday morning to continue their discussions.
And the Chicago Cubs acquired veteran reliever Ryan Pressly from the Houston Astros on Tuesday, in exchange for minor-league pitcher Juan Bello. Pressly described the decision to waive his no-trade clause to join the Cubs as “one of the hardest decisions” he’s ever made.
That’s it for this week! Here’s the latest installment of the Tribune’s Quotes of the Week quiz from the week spanning Jan. 27 to Feb. 1.
Missed last week? You can find it here or check out our past editions of Quotes of the Week.