Mayor Brandon Johnson directed city agencies not to aid federal immigration crackdowns and urged President Donald Trump to ’stand down’ from sending forces.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has signed an executive order authorizing “immediate, drastic action” to respond to what he said could be a looming military deployment by the Trump administration to the city.
“I am signing an executive order that directs all of our City’s departments to protect Chicagoans and not collaborate with federal overreach,” Johnson said in an Aug. 30 post on X.
At an Aug. 30 press conference, Johnson added that his order “affirms” that Chicago police will not “collaborate with military personnel or civil immigration enforcement.”
The mayor’s order bars city police from assisting federal agents in immigration or joint patrols, calls on federal officers to identify themselves and wear body cameras, and directs city departments to explore legal and legislative steps to resist federal actions. It also urges President Donald Trump to “stand down” from deploying troops.
“We will not have our police officers, who are working hard every single day to drive down crime, deputized to do traffic stops and check stops for the president,” he said, adding that, “we do not want to see tanks on our streets.”
The move comes after Trump said Chicago would likely be the next major city to face a federal crime crackdown.
Trump, who has already deployed troops to Washington, has cited a federal statute allowing such actions and said the National Guard could “solve Chicago within one week.”
The president added, however, that he would not move forward without a request from Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who has rejected the idea.
“Mr. President, do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here,” Pritzker told reporters at a press conference in Chicago.
“This is not about fighting crime. This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city in a blue state to try to intimidate his political rivals.”
Trump officials have also signaled stepped-up immigration enforcement in the city.
Border czar Tom Homan told NewsNation on Aug. 28 that “a large contingent” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers would be sent to Chicago. He did not say how many.
Likewise, Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem told the same outlet a day earlier that an elite specialized tactical unit within ICE would be deployed to Chicago “soon.”
By Tom Ozimek
