Chicago mayor defies Trump’s immigration crackdown plan for the city
AP The mayor of Chicago pushed 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 functionaries 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 The mayor 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 regime When urged during a news conference about federal agents who are presumably taking orders Johnson replied Yeah and I don t take orders from the federal executive Johnson also blocked Chicago police from wearing face coverings to hide their identities as the majority federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have adopted since the Trump administration took charge this year The federal surge into Chicago could start as early as Sept and last about days according to two U S authorities who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not been made inhabitants The officers 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 this summer in Los Angeles On Saturday President Donald Trump commented about Chicago crime and Illinois Gov JB Pritzker on his Truth Social site Six people were killed and people were shot in Chicago last weekend and JB Pritzker the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois just announced 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 newest 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 instead of being cast as part of a broad campaign against crime the functionaries announced Chicago is home to a large immigrant population and both the city and the state of Illinois have selected of the country s strongest rules against cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts That has often put the city and state at odds with President Donald Trump s mass deportation agenda Johnson s order builds on the city s longtime stance saying neither Chicago nor Illinois bureaucrats have sought or been consulted on the federal presence and demanding Trump stand down on those plans Johnson 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 blue cities as retribution against his political rivals He is reckless and out of control Johnson stated 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 expected 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 spokeswoman Abigail Jackson revealed in an email Saturday
