Illinois NAACP leader pressured to resign after comparing immigrants to ‘savages’

The president of the Illinois chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is facing heavy backlash for comparing immigrants to savages, and several people are calling for her to step down or apologize.

Illinois State Conference NAACP President Teresa Haley made the controversial comments this fall during a conference call with branch presidents from across the state, according to Patrick Watson, former DuPage County Branch NAACP president.

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Watson told the Chicago Tribune that he resigned in protest of Haley and recorded the video, which he shared with the outlet on Tuesday. In the recording, Haley pushed back against the state providing homes and clothing to immigrants while claiming black and homeless people have largely been ignored.

“But black people have been on the streets forever and ever, and nobody cares, because they say that we’re drug addicts, we’ve got mental health issues,” Haley said in the recording. “But these immigrants who come over here, they’ve been raping people, they’ve been breaking into homes, they’re like savages as well. They don’t speak the language and they look at us like we’re crazy.”

Watson added that other people during the conference call had made comments about immigrants taking resources away from black people, but “she was the only one that used this derogatory, hateful language.”

“I’m seeing a lot of division, and they’re only fanning the flames,” Watson continued. “This is not the sentiment of the black community as a whole, it’s a vocal minority. Public sentiment is very much in favor of helping migrants in DuPage. You can be for raising up your people without denigrating other people.”

Haley has denied the statements, suggesting to local outlet WLS 7 that the recording was fake.

“With AI, anything is possible,” Haley said.

Watson said he did not respond to Haley’s comments on the call but had had enough after Haley made comments about LGBT pronouns that the former president believes are insulting to people he knows.

“This kind of rhetoric drives that kind of hate,” Watson told the Chicago Tribune.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) called Haley’s remarks reprehensible.

“I would hope that she would apologize for the remarks,” Pritzker said. “I also think that people should recognize that immigrants in this country are all around us. … Virtually all of us came here from somewhere else. So remarks like that are commentary on our entire society. Extraordinarily inappropriate.”

Carla Jackson-Campbell, secretary of the state NAACP, disputed the details of Watson’s recording.

“We are still evaluating all of the information and awaiting more details,” Jackson-Campbell said. “Our mission is and always will be to achieve equity and political rights and social inclusion by advancing the needs of Black people. President Haley does embrace the mission of our beloved NAACP.”

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The alleged comments come as Illinois, along with many Democratic-led states, continues to see an influx of immigrants from the southern border. Chicago has received over 26,000 immigrants since August 2022. With most of them homeless, some have taken shelter at police stations and O’Hare International Airport.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration planned to move over 1,600 immigrants from police stations to permanent camps before winter. However, that plan is now on hold after Pritzker vetoed Brighton Park for a camp setup and the designated tent shelter in Morgan Park is on pause.