Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson reportedly signed an executive order Saturday that will prevent the city’s police officers from cooperating with federal agents deployed by the Trump administration to target crime and illegal immigration, placing the nation’s third-largest city on a collision course with Washington.
The move positions Chicago alongside other Democratic-led jurisdictions such as Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., where mayors have resisted federal enforcement efforts.
It also underscores the sharp divide between progressive city leaders and President Donald J. Trump, who has vowed to use every tool of federal authority to confront surging crime and illegal immigration.
“We have not called for this. Our people have not asked for this,” Mr. Johnson told reporters after signing the order. “But nevertheless, we find ourselves having to respond to this, and we find ourselves in a position where we must take immediate, drastic action to protect our people from federal overreach.”
The mayor insisted the policy was about shielding Chicagoans from what he described as unwanted intervention. “Protecting Chicago will ensure that every Chicagoan knows their rights, that every single family is prepared, and every part of city government is directed to protect the people of Chicago from federal action,” he said.
The order explicitly forbids Chicago police from collaborating with federal agents on “joint law enforcement patrols, arrest operations, or other law enforcement duties including civil immigration enforcement.” It further states that “no CPD personnel shall be assigned joint law enforcement patrols, arrest operations, or other law enforcement duties alongside federal law enforcement, or military personnel, or National Guard units engaging in civil immigration enforcement.”
Though the order leaves the door open for cooperation “consistent with applicable law and existing intergovernmental agreements,” the language makes clear that federal immigration enforcement is not welcome inside city limits.
The timing of the move follows a Department of Homeland Security memo requesting the use of Naval Station Great Lakes, north of Chicago, as a staging ground for immigration operations. Suburbs in the surrounding area could also be affected, local officials said.
At the same time, Trump has vowed to deploy the National Guard to Chicago to combat violent crime, an approach critics say the city desperately needs after years of surging homicides.
Mr. Johnson, however, drew a line between city policing and federal authority. “This is about making a clear distinction about what our law enforcement engages in vs. what the federal government engages in,” he said. “This president is not going to come in and deputize our police department.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, dismissed the administration’s actions as political theater. He labeled the federal push “a manufactured crisis,” adding in an interview with CBS News that Trump’s real goal was not crime prevention but a broader effort to “put a stop to the 2026 elections.”
The confrontation sets the stage for yet another clash between Mr. Trump and progressive strongholds that have long resisted federal immigration enforcement.
For the White House, Chicago is both a symbol of urban lawlessness and a test case for restoring order. For Mayor Johnson and his allies, it is the latest front in their fight to keep federal agents out of local policing.
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