In a direct challenge to the Trump administration, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a sweeping executive order today aimed at protecting city residents from a potential federal law enforcement and military deployment. The order, dubbed the “Protecting Chicago Initiative,” is a defiant response to the President’s repeated threats to intervene in the city, which he has described as “a mess.”
“We do not want to see tanks in our streets,” Johnson said at a press conference as he signed the order. “We do not want to see families ripped apart. We do not want grandmothers thrown into the backs of unmarked vans.” The order, which takes immediate effect, is designed to legally shield the city and its residents from what the mayor called “threats and actions of an out-of-control administration.”
The new directive prohibits the Chicago Police Department from collaborating with federal authorities on immigration enforcement, patrols, checkpoints, or arrests. It also directs city departments to “pursue all available legal and legislative avenues” to fight what Johnson views as an unconstitutional overreach. Furthermore, the order demands that any federal agents operating in Chicago wear body cameras, refrain from wearing masks, and clearly identify themselves with their names and badge numbers—a direct jab at the practice of federal agents who have operated with concealed identities in cities like Portland and Washington, D.C.
The move comes after the Trump administration signaled its intention to expand its “law and order” campaign to Democratic-led cities. While the White House has framed its planned federal presence as a necessary measure to combat crime, both Mayor Johnson and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker have rejected the offer.
In a statement, a White House spokesperson dismissed the executive order as a “publicity stunt,” stating that “if these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer.”
Legal experts have weighed in on the unprecedented standoff. While a mayor cannot stop federal agents from operating, the executive order is a powerful political statement and could lay the groundwork for future legal challenges. For now, the battle lines have been drawn, with a major American city openly vowing to use every tool at its disposal to protect its residents and their constitutional rights.