Chicago Mayor Signs Order With Blueprint For Fighting A Potential Trump Crackdown

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive bid Saturday aimed astatine curbing nan powerfulness of national rule enforcement officers and National Guard troops that he said President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy to Illinois.

“We find ourselves successful a position wherever we must return immediate, drastic action to protect our group from national overreach,” Johnson, a Democrat, said successful a property conference.

One of nan main points of nan order, Johnson said, was to nonstop nan city’s rule section to usage “every ineligible mechanism” to effort to extremity Trump’s imaginable plan.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said nan metropolis would usage "every ineligible mechanism" to push backmost against a crackdown.Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP - Getty Images

Johnson added later that he would usage “every azygous instrumentality that is astatine our disposal, and that includes nan courts.”

“It’s an area successful which astatine slightest there’s immoderate semblance of cheque and equilibrium successful this country,” he said.

The executive bid besides includes a litany of different directives, Johnson said, including clarifying what actions Chicago’s constabulary officers tin return to assistance national rule enforcement and prohibiting them from covering their faces aliases nan constabulary department’s logo connected their uniforms.

“This bid affirms that nan Chicago Police Department will not collaborate pinch subject unit connected constabulary patrols aliases civilian migration enforcement. We will not person our constabulary officers, who are moving difficult each azygous time to thrust down crime, deputized to do postulation stops and checkpoints for nan president,” Johnson said astatine nan property conference.

Johnson’s move comes arsenic nan president has already deployed troops and national rule enforcement to Washington, D.C., and arsenic he’s progressively threatened to do nan aforesaid successful different awesome American cities, for illustration Baltimore.

Most Democratic officials person truthful acold pushed backmost connected Trump’s threats to nonstop troops to American cities, pinch complete a twelve Democratic governors connected Thursday releasing a connection condemning nan president’s actions.

“Whether it’s Illinois, Maryland and New York aliases different authorities tomorrow, nan President’s threats and efforts to deploy a state’s National Guard without nan petition and consent of that state’s politician is an alarming maltreatment of power, ineffective, and undermines nan ngo of our work members,” nan governors said successful nan statement. “This chaotic national interference successful our states’ National Guard must travel to an end.”

Meanwhile, successful Washington, Mayor Muriel Bowser said earlier this week that nan national surge had lowered crime but nan beingness of migration officers and National Guard troops wasn’t working.

“What we cognize is not moving is simply a break successful spot betwixt constabulary and community, particularly pinch caller national partners successful our community,” Bowser told reporters past week. “We cognize having masked ICE agents successful nan organization has not worked, and National Guards from different states has not been an businesslike usage of those resources.”

Trump has not announced plans to nonstop national rule enforcement aliases National Guard troops to Chicago, but The Washington Post reported earlier this month that nan Pentagon was profoundly progressive successful readying a subject deployment to nan city.

Earlier this week, NBC News reported that national authorities plan to surge agents to Chicago arsenic soon arsenic adjacent week to ramp up arrests of unauthorized immigrants.

Johnson connected Saturday said that nan metropolis has “received reliable reports that we person days, not weeks, earlier our cities spot immoderate type of militarized activity by nan national government.”

“It is unclear astatine this clip what that will look for illustration exactly. We whitethorn spot militarized migration enforcement. We whitethorn besides spot National Guard troops. We whitethorn moreover spot active-duty subject and equipped vehicles successful our streets,” Johnson added.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson connected Saturday responded to Johnson’s announcement, accusing nan politician of having “Trump derangement syndrome.”

“If these Democrats focused connected fixing crime successful their ain cities alternatively of doing publicity stunts to knock nan President, their communities would beryllium overmuch safer. Cracking down connected crime should not beryllium a partisan issue, but Democrats suffering from TDS are trying to make it one,” Jackson said, adding: “They should perceive to chap Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser who precocious celebrated nan Trump Administration’s occurrence successful driving down convulsive crime successful Washington DC.”

On Friday, Trump separator czar Tom Homan told Fox News that nan management was looking into action successful Chicago.

“Chicago is coming, on pinch each different sanctuary city,” Homan said. “President Trump is committed that we’re going to attraction connected and prioritize sanctuary cities because that is wherever nan problem is.”

“Get retired of nan way, because we’re going to do it,” Homan said later erstwhile asked astir imaginable pushback from section officials.

Earlier this month, nan president deployed National Guard troops and national rule enforcement officers to Washington, D.C., successful what he has called an effort to conflict crime. Troops and national officials deployed pinch nan Metropolitan Police Department to respective areas of nan nation’s capital.

So far, he’s only deployed national officers and National Guard troops to Washington arsenic portion of his stated crime-fighting plan, though earlier this twelvemonth Trump federalized California’s National Guard, contempt nan guidance of Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., sending troops to Los Angeles to quell protests against nan administration’s migration enforcement actions.

Earlier this week, during an arena successful La Crosse, Wisconsin, Vice President JD Vance said astir nan president’s plans to nonstop troops into different American cities, telling nan crowd that he didn’t expect Trump to “force” troops connected governors and mayors who didn’t want them.

“What nan president has said is that, very simply, we want governors and mayors to inquire for nan help,” Vance said, adding later: “The president of nan United States is not going retired location forcing this connected anybody, though we do deliberation that we person nan ineligible correct to cleanable up America’s streets if we want to. But what nan president has said is, very simply, is, Why don’t you induce america in?”

The vice president later referenced Chicago specifically, telling attendees, “We’re not excessively acold from Chicago. Chicago’s had a batch of crime problems. Why is it that you person mayors and governors who are angrier astir Donald Trump offering to thief them than they are astir nan truth that their ain residents are being carjacked and murdered successful nan streets? It doesn’t make an ounce of sense.”