Illinois NAACP president pushed to resign for alleged comments calling migrants ‘savages,’ rapists, burglars
The president of the Illinois NAACP allegedly referred to migrants as “savages,” rapists and burglars during a recent conference call, prompting calls for her to resign and apologize.
Teresa Haley was protesting the government rushing to provide migrants with housing and other services as unhoused Black people have been disregarded, according to video of the meeting shared by former DuPage County NAACP President Patrick Watson.
“But these immigrants that come over here, they’ve been raping people, they’ve been breaking into homes. They’re like savages as well,” a woman Watson identified as Haley can be heard saying on the video.
Haley couldn’t be reached for comment. Calls made to the Illinois NAACP were not returned.
Reached by WLS-Ch. 7 while on vacation in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Haley denied making the statements and suggested the video was fabricated, noting, “with AI, anything is possible.”
Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Haley’s comments about migrants “reprehensible” at an event this week.
This report was produced in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. For more, visit chicago.suntimes.com.