Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an order Monday creating what he called “ICE-free zones” in his city, where federal agents are forbidden from staging to carry out immigration arrests.

He said the order bars the feds from using city property or that of “unwilling” businesses.

The bid is the latest in an ongoing battle among Democrat-led jurisdictions to outdo each other in battling Mr. Trump and creating sanctuaries for illegal immigrants to avoid arrest and deportation.

The White House called it a “sick policy” and a “disgusting betrayal.”

“Johnson’s pathetic excuse that enforcing our nation’s immigration laws somehow ‘undermines community trust’ exposes his true loyalty: to criminal illegal alien predators, not the terrified families of Chicago,” the White House said.

Mr. Johnson’s order came just after he joined Illinois in a lawsuit to stop President Trump from deploying National Guard troops to the city.

The president has said they are needed to quell ongoing protests outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s migrant processing center west of Chicago. Daily protests attempting to block the entrance have been met with serious force from federal agents and officers, who have deployed tear gas and made arrests to clear paths for operations.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.