Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Saturday signed an executive order directing metropolis police to investigate and doc alleged misconduct by federal immigration officers with a watch towards prosecution.
“We are putting ICE on notice in our city. Chicago will not sit idly by while Trump floods federal agents into our communities and terrorizes our residents,” Johnson stated in an announcement, referring to President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration enforcement efforts across the nation.
The transfer comes as 9 native district attorneys launched a coalition this week to help in prosecuting federal regulation enforcement officers who violate state legal guidelines, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed legislation, which might prohibit cooperation agreements between native police departments and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Tensions between Washington and the leaders of progressive US cities have mounted for the reason that lethal and chaotic federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis resulted within the deadly capturing final weekend of Alex Pretti, the second Minnesotan to be killed by federal agents within the state this yr. The deaths of Pretti and Renee Good on January 7 have reworked the heated nationwide debate on immigration enforcement.
“We need to send a clear message: If the federal government will not hold these rogue actors accountable, then Chicago will do everything in our power to bring these agents to justice,” Johnson said shortly earlier than signing the so-called “Ice On Notice” executive order.
“This executive order will make Chicago the first city in the country to set the groundwork to prosecute ICE and Border Patrol agents for criminal misconduct,” the mayor stated.
The order directs the Chicago Police Department to doc federal enforcement actions, protect body-camera footage, try to determine the federal supervisory officer on scene of an incident, full a report on the alleged misconduct and instantly summon emergency medical providers, in accordance to Johnson.
“In the event of illegal misconduct by federal immigration agents, CPD supervisors will preserve evidence of the incident and … make a referral of felony matters to the Cook County State’s Attorney,” the mayor stated in an announcement.
NCS has reached out to the Chicago Police Department and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for remark.
John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, in an e mail dismissed the executive order as a “piece of toilet paper” and “more political bluster from City Hall.”
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, in an e mail response Saturday to Johnson’s name to motion, stated “claims of criminal misconduct by ICE law enforcement are FALSE.”
DHS, which incorporates ICE and the Border Patrol, informed NCS its personnel obtain common coaching and are held to “highest professional standard.”
DHS reiterated its declare that native officers have been unwilling to work with them, citing sanctuary metropolis insurance policies.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, acknowledged Thursday the immigration enforcement effort in Minnesota wanted to be “fixed” and stated his group was working on a drawdown plan whereas sharpening the main focus of operations on undocumented immigrants with prison data.
Deployed by the administration to Minneapolis to handle ICE operations within the wake of Pretti’s deadly capturing, Homan stated not “everything that’s been done here has been perfect” and that “certain improvements could and should be made.”
Johnson cited the Pretti and Good shootings, in addition to two different incidents in Chicago involving federal immigration officers. In September, an ICE officer fatally shot a man who DHS stated resisted arrest and dragged the officer throughout a car cease in a Chicago suburb, in accordance to DHS.
The man, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, was an undocumented immigrant, in accordance to DHS. The officer, who was not instantly recognized, was launched from the hospital after struggling accidents, an ICE spokesperson stated.
In one other incident, Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old US citizen, was shot five times by a US Customs and Border Protection agent after her car and a federal regulation enforcement car collided on October 4 in Chicago.
A federal prison criticism accused Martinez of ramming her automotive into the regulation enforcement car, and a DHS official referred to her as a “domestic terrorist.”
In November, a US District decide dismissed federal charges towards Martinez after prosecutors filed a movement to dismiss the fees. Martinez’s protection legal professional, Christopher Parente, alleged that it was truly the agent who sideswiped Martinez. The legal professional additionally shared considerations that the government moved evidence about 1,000 miles from town which will have supported the protection.
Johnson, in an announcement, stated the Chicago Police Department was directed to subject steerage and procedures to implement the order inside 30 days.
“This is a nationwide effort to hold an authoritarian regime accountable,” he stated.