An ex-Chicagoland police chief says violent ambushes and murder of on-duty police officers need to be punishable as a federal crime, and he's calling on President-elect Donald Trump to move the effort forward. 

"Attacks on police officers are certainly on the rise since 2020, and what's really on the rise is ambush," retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel told Fox News Digital in an interview. "There's been more ambush attacks on police officers in the last two to three years than I've ever seen before, and that goes from everything from just an officer sitting in a squad car, either writing a report or he or she is on an assignment, and somebody walking up and just shooting the officer right in the squad car."

"That's happened several times over the last couple of years, or fake 911 calls where – the whole purpose of the calls [is] to get the officer to respond and to open fire on that officer and kill that officer. That's happened many times. We had never seen that, you know, 10 years ago," he added.

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Currently, killing state or local law enforcement officers can lead to a federal penalty only if the killing is committed to influence or retaliate against the officer's official duties and involves interstate commerce or federal jurisdiction. While some laws have been passed in recent years to curb the uptick in police killings, there's no official federal law that killing a police officer in any state is a felony because most cases are prosecuted under state law.

States generally treat the murder of a police officer as an aggravated form of homicide that can carry harsh penalties, including life imprisonment or the death penalty.

"What I'm looking for is uniformity, and I'm looking forward to give the family and loved ones some relief that things are being done properly, and I know for a fact that they're not prosecuted and investigated the same in every state in America. That's not happening," Weitzel said.

Weitzel, who was almost killed in an ambush shooting during his time as a cop, said he's sent letters to his state legislators, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and both the Biden and previous Trump administrations, but he only heard back from Trump's DOJ with a list of best practices. Last week, Weitzel sent another letter to Trump urging him to look at the proposal.

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"There's still an unsolved police murder in the west suburbs of Chicago, and that really that also made me think, like, we need to get an outside agency's experts in doing it. I'm not criticizing local law enforcement, I'm saying we just want it done uniformly," he said.

FBI data shows a significant rise in officer fatalities nationwide between 2020 and 2023, with nearly 200 officers feloniously killed over three years. In Chicago, the police department saw several of its officers killed last year: Officer Andres Mauricio Vasquez Lasso on March 1 and Officer Arenah M. Preston on May 6. Officer Enrique Martinez, 26, was killed in November during a traffic stop in the city's East Chatham neighborhood.

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"President Trump has publicly stated he's a law-and-order president. He has stated he supports law enforcement, many of the law enforcement ideals and legislation," Weitzel said. "So, it's the right time to at least push this, because we have somebody who in the White House says he's willing to work and pass legislation and funding with local law enforcement."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump transition team for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

CHICAGO – Community activist and Chicago Against Violence founder Andre Smith may be a Democrat, but he says he's willing to work with incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan to deport illegal immigrants from the Windy City. 

"I welcome in Chicago the border czar [Tom Homan]," Smith told Fox News Digital in an interview. "And [truth] be told, I wouldn't mind working with him seeing that I was the first person in Chicago to stand up and fight against the migrants."

Smith, who is also a preacher, has been on the front line of helping his community in Chicago, from helping the homeless population to fighting against local efforts by Mayor Brandon Johnson to disperse migrants throughout the city. 

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"I would love when he come[s] to Chicago to work with him, and getting them expedited back where they came from," Smith said of Homan. "Because to lie to a federal official is a federal offense, and if they came over on the pretenses of they are in fear of their life, then you have women, you have men, and all of them said they're in fear for their life because someone is going trying to kill them, and lying, you have to make examples."

Smith's comments come as many Chicago residents have been outraged by "sanctuary city" policies that have brought in thousands of migrants to a city already plagued by one of the highest violent crime rates in the U.S.

"Here we are in Chicago, where we [are] supposed to be celebrating a season of joy, love and happiness," Smith continued. "And a lot of people have Christmas trees and under their trees in Chicago. We are unwrapping gifts of neglect. We are unwrapping gifts of disappointment and heartaches. We are unwrapping gifts of $575 million of taxpayer dollars given to and misallocated to give to illegal migrants. We need solutions, and we need change."

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Following President-elect Donald Trump's re-election, Johnson — who allocated millions of dollars to migrant resources — vowed to defend the illegal migrants residing in Chicago, saying "we will not bend or break," according to local news outlet WTTW. 

"Our values will remain strong and firm. We will face likely hurdles in our work over the next four years, but we will not be stopped, and we will not go back," Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Homan spoke in Chicago last week and told local Republicans he wanted Illinois Democrats to "come to the table," but if not to "get the hell out of the way."

That comment sparked a fiery response from Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.

"Tom Homan, the next time you come to #IL03 — a district made stronger and more powerful by immigrants — you better be ready to meet the resistance," she warned.

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"You may think Chicago needs to get out of the way of Trump's plans for mass deportation, but we plan to get ALL UP IN YOUR WAY."

Ramirez's comments add to a growing number of statements from Democratic leaders nationwide vowing to oppose or refuse cooperation with Trump's mass deportation plans. 

But while Homan may face opposition from Illinois Democrats, there's one Democratic leader willing to work with him: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. 

"Violent criminals who are undocumented and convicted of violent crime should be deported," Pritzker said at a Northwest Side GOP gathering last week. "I do not want them in my state, I don't think they should be in the United States."

Pritzker, 59, is considered a potential 2028 Democratic presidential hopeful.

Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw and Pilar Arias contributed to this report.

The Democratic governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, says he agrees with one part of border czar appointee Tom Homan's historic mass deportation campaign under the incoming Trump administration.

Pritzker was responding to comments made by Homan at the Northwest Side GOP gathering that happened Monday evening,  according to FOX 32 Chicago, where he threatened to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The move would impact tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants in Chicago and Illinois.

"Violent criminals who are undocumented and convicted of violent crime should be deported," Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference, the local station reported. "I do not want them in my state, I don't think they should be in the United States."

Homan has said no one is off the table when it comes to deportations, although public safety threats will be the priority. He directly mentioned Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson in his remarks.

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"If your Chicago mayor doesn't want to help, he can step aside," Homan said. "But if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors an illegal alien, I will prosecute him."

Pritzker has said he would welcome a meeting with Homan or the incoming Trump administration, according to FOX 32, but no one has reached out to him.

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Illinois republicans not only urge Pritzker to work with Homan, but say the state should repeal sanctuary laws that generally limit law enforcement's cooperation with ICE.

Currently, 1.4 million noncitizens have deportation orders but are not currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, according to new figures obtained by Fox News. 

The top countries of nationals on the list include Mexico (252,044), Guatemala (253,413), Honduras (261,651) and El Salvador (203,822).

Other countries include China, which has 37,908 nationals on the docket with final orders of removal, Haiti (32,363), Iran (2,618), Pakistan (7,76), Uzbekistan, (975) and Venezuela (22,749).

Fox News' Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: Incoming border czar Tom Homan is not backing down from his plans to lead President-elect Trump’s mass deportation operation in Chicago after a Democratic congresswoman told him to "be ready to meet the resistance."

"Message received. Please review 18 USC 111 and also see 8 USC 1324 (iii)," Homan told Fox News Digital in an interview on Wednesday. "Game on."

He was referring to two laws, one prohibiting impeding a federal law enforcement officer and the other prohibiting the harboring or concealing of illegal immigrants from immigration officers. 

"So, message received, please review this statute and that statute and game on," he said.

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Homan had spoken in Chicago this week and told local Republicans he wanted Illinois Democrats to "come to the table," but if not to "get the hell out of the way."

That comment sparked a fiery response from Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill.

"Tom Homan, the next time you come to #IL03 — a district made stronger and more powerful by immigrants — you better be ready to meet the resistance," she warned.

"You may think Chicago needs to get out of the way of Trump's plans for mass deportation, but we plan to get ALL UP IN YOUR WAY."

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Ramirez’s remarks are the latest in a slew of comments by Democratic lawmakers and officials across the country who have promised either not to co-operate with the incoming Trump administration's plans for mass deportations or to resist them entirely. 

Last month, the mayor of Denver said he was willing to go to jail over the opposition to the deportations. Homan had responded to the statement by the mayor by saying he was willing to jail him, noting the same statutes he pointed to when speaking to Fox Digital.

On Wednesday, he described Ramirez’s opposition as opposition that would stop the arrests of public safety threats.

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"President Trump and I have been clear on every interview I do, that right out of the gate, we're going to be prioritizing public safety threats," Homan said. "Any elected official who wants to prevent the removal of public safety threats from their communities, especially if they're illegal aliens, is not doing their job. Because their job, their number one responsibility to their communities is protection of that community, the safety of that community."

"No one should be arguing against removing public safety threats, and I find it just incredible that she supports more criminals, especially in Chicago, for God's sake," he said.

Homan said that the administration will also be prioritizing the bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which has spread across the country and has established a presence in Chicago, along with other gangs. 

"I would not say every criminal in Chicago is an illegal alien, but some are, many are. So let's not only take them out of the community. Let's take them out of the country," he said.

"So, game on."