Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) signed an executive order Monday banning federal immigration officials from using city property in their operations.
The order prevents Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from using city-owned parking lots, vacant lots and other locations for staging, processing and operations. It directs city departments to implement the measures within five days, requires city employees to immediately report violations and encourages local businesses and community organizations to adopt similar policies.
Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched Operation Midway Blitz to target migrants without legal status in Chicago. Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) have criticized the surge in federal immigration enforcement to the city.
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“We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority,” Johnson said in a release. The mayor also referenced ICE officers reportedly detaining Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes and utilizing tear gas on residents on Friday.
“With this Executive Order, Chicago stands firm in protecting the Constitutional rights of our residents and immigrant communities and upholding our democracy,” Johnson added.
Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), slammed Johnson in a statement, saying he was “demonizing ICE law enforcement.”
“Just this weekend, he and Governor Pritzker refused to allow the local police department to give our officers back up at the scene of a law enforcement attack — a growing and violent crowd began throwing rocks at our law enforcement, yet their chief of patrol ordered their officers not to help,” she said.
“His reckless policies not only endanger our law enforcement, but public safety. While he continues to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto Chicago’s streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives — without pay — to arrest these heinous criminals and make Chicago safe again.”
The White House, in a Monday statement, called Johnson’s order “a disgusting betrayal of every law-abiding citizen” and highlighted some of the individuals detained during ICE’s operation.
“Shielding the most depraved, violent criminal illegal aliens from justice is not only an insult to every Chicagoan, it’s also a dangerous intensification of Democrats’ lunatic ‘sanctuary’ agenda where criminal illegals come before American citizens,” the White House added.
DHS said Friday that ICE has arrested more than 1,000 people since its Chicago operation began. As of March 2025, roughly 1.7 million immigrants reside in the Chicago metro area, according to the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit focused on criminal justice reform.
The raids, though, have sparked concerns among immigrant communities, resulting in widespread protests in and around Chicago. On Sunday, two people, one of whom was shot by Customs and Border Protection agents, were charged with assaulting a federal law enforcement officer during an incident on Saturday near an ICE facility in Broadview, Ill.
Last month, Johnson signed an executive order intended to protect Chicago residents’ right to protest the immigration enforcement measures. The order directed the Chicago Police Department to “collaborate with protest organizers to develop a mutually acceptable alternative plan” if federal law enforcement interferes with a protest.