Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order on Friday allowing the city’s police department to investigate the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents with a view to potential prosecution. This action comes in response to recent criticism of federal agents for overstepping their authority in Minnesota, where they were involved in the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“As part of this order, our police department will document the activity of ICE and Border Patrol and attempt to identify the agents at the scene. This evidence will be preserved and, at the direction of my office, will be forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office for possible prosecution,” the mayor said at a press conference broadcast on social media.
The city of Chicago has also been a target of U.S. President Donald Trump, who sent more than a hundred National Guard troops to Illinois to combat crime in the city, which he even compared to Afghanistan. He withdrew the troops at the end of the year, as he did from other cities like Los Angeles and Portland, after a court ruling prevented these forces from participating in immigration raids.
In this regard, Johnson assured that the White House occupant intends to increase the presence of federal forces in Chicago in the coming months, so with this order the city will be “prepared.” “We will continue to learn and work with other cities across the country as we face this moment,” he emphasized.
The mayor denounced that “corrupt” ICE agents are causing “chaos and destruction” and that their work deviates from proper practices. “They don’t care about citizenship status. They don’t care about due process. They don’t even care about immigration. These federal agents are undermining trust in law enforcement,” he stated. Similarly, he accused the Trump administration of being an “authoritarian regime” and asserted that this executive order offers “hope” to the people of Chicago and the entire country, framed within a “national effort” to confront the administration’s immigration policies.
Since last December, the U.S. government has increased anti-immigration operations in Minnesota, citing a rise in crime as justification. The actions of the agents, such as the deaths of Good and Pretti and the arrest of a five-year-old child, have sparked outrage among the population of the state and the entire country.
