The mayor of Chicago struck back Saturday against what he called the “out-of-control” Trump administration’s plan to surge federal officers into the nation’s third-largest city, which could take place within days.
The Chicago Police Department will be barred from helping federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement or any related patrols, traffic stops and checkpoints during the surge, according to an executive order signed by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Johnson directed all city departments to guard the constitutional rights of Chicago residents “amidst the possibility of imminent militarized immigration or National Guard deployment by the federal government.”
When asked during a news conference about federal agents who are presumably “taking orders,” Johnson replied: “Yeah, and I don’t take orders from the federal government.”
Johnson also blocked Chicago police from wearing face coverings to hide their identities, as most federal immigration officers have done since President Trump launched his crackdown.
The federal surge into Chicago could start as early as Friday and last about 30 days, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not been made public.
The officials described the immigration crackdown as part of a larger effort to expand the federal law enforcement presence in major Democratic-run cities, as it did earlier this year in Los Angeles.
On Saturday, Trump commented about Chicago crime and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on his social media site: “Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME. He is CRAZY!!! He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming! MAGA. President DJT”
Unlike the recent federal takeover of policing in Washington, D.C., the Chicago operation is not expected to rely on the National Guard or military and is focused exclusively on immigration, rather than being cast as part of a broad campaign against crime, the officials said.
Chicago is home to a large immigrant population, and both the city and the state of Illinois have some of the country’s strongest rules against cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts. That has often put the city and state at odds with the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
Johnson’s order builds on the city’s longtime stance, saying neither Chicago nor Illinois officials have sought or been consulted on the federal presence and demanding Trump stand down on those plans.
The mayor had harsh words for Trump during his news conference, accusing the president of “behaving outside the bounds of the Constitution” and seeking a federal presence in Democratic cities as retribution against his political rivals.
“He is reckless and out of control,” Johnson said. “He’s the biggest threat to our democracy that we’ve experienced in the history of our country.”
In response, the White House insisted the potential flood of federal agents was about “cracking down on crime.”
“If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an email Saturday.
Critics have noted that Trump, while espousing a tough-on-crime push, is the only felon ever to occupy the White House.
Beck writes for the Associated Press.