The mayor of Chicago pushed back on 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.
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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.
The mayor directed all city departments to guard the constitutional rights of Chicago residents “amidst the possibility of imminent militarised 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 and Customs Enforcement officers have adopted since the Trump administration took charge this year.
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The federal surge into Chicago could start as early as September 5 and last about 30 days, according to two US officials who spoke on the 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 this summer in Los Angeles.