Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a wide-ranging, but largely symbolic, executive order Saturday that directs law enforcement against wearing masks in Chicago, in his latest effort to counter President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats of sweeping federal immigration raids and even a potential occupation of the city by federal forces.
While extensive, the “Protecting Chicago” initiative was also a tacit acknowledgment that the mayor and city cannot stop any White House efforts to follow through on Trump’s threats on the nation’s third-largest city.
Still, Johnson, at a City Hall news conference, maintained the order allows his Law Department to “pursue any and every legal mechanism to hold this administration accountable.”
“I do not take this executive action lightly,” Johnson told reporters. “But unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of time. We have received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city sees some type of militarized activity by the federal government.”
Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker have both repeatedly said that they have not received any formal notification from the Trump administration regarding the details of the alleged incursion. When asked later what “credible reports” the Johnson administration has received, mayoral spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said the city has “sources inside the administration but we don’t want to say more than that.” Mendoza also stated that the sources confirm reports about an imminent federal surge in the national and local press.
“Even though we know that this President is behaving outside of the bounds of the Constitution, it hasn’t stopped him, but it stops in Chicago,” Johnson said.
The mayor’s executive order “urges” all federal law enforcement to follow Chicago police directives banning them from wearing masks on duty and requiring them to activate their body cameras at all times when interacting with the public. Officers or armed forces should also display their federal agency, last name and badge number or rank “in a clearly visible fashion,” per the order.
Agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents have routinely, in Chicago and across the nation, worn masks and not thoroughly identified themselves as they have detained and arrested people the agency says are in the country illegally. Federal officials have defended the officers wearing masks and not identifying themselves as a way to ensure their safety and prevent the public release of their personal information and that of their family members.
However, the effectiveness of the executive order remains to be seen, and Johnson was unclear about what recourse the city would have in real-time if federal agents, troops, or law enforcement flouted his instructions beyond suggesting a lawsuit.
“We will use every single tool that is at our disposal, and that includes the courts,” Johnson said. “It’s an area which at least there’s some semblance of check and balance in this country.”
It’s unclear how such a legal challenge would play out, given that the mayor does not have jurisdiction over federal agencies. The reverse situation played out when the Trump administration sued Chicago and Illinois over their sanctuary policy for immigrants earlier this year, but the lawsuit was tossed after a judge deemed that local police were not compelled to assist with federal immigration enforcement.
Johnson’s executive action comes after a week of threats from the White House that Chicago is Trump’s next target for a federal crackdown after about 2,000 National Guard members were deployed in Washington, D.C. The president’s hostile, but at times confusing, remarks over the last several days have put the city on edge as leaders condemned the plan as unnecessary and dangerous.
Johnson has highlighted that so far this year, homicides are down 32%, and charged that Trump is hurting anti-violence efforts by cutting the city’s federal grants for street outreach programs. But with the president’s sights apparently set on making an example out of Chicago next, local leaders’ options to fight back are limited.
Besides the directives on law enforcement, Johnson’s order directs city departments to coordinate on responding to federal agents or military presence in Chicago and submit regular public records requests to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to obtain information on immigration enforcement. And the mayor’s office will also launch a “Family Preparedness” campaign to inform Chicagoans of their rights when interacting with federal agents, including from U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement.
Trump’s border czar Tom Homan told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that preparations were underway for an immigration crackdown in Chicago, amid reports stating it could commence as soon as next week, with agents and other personnel being headquartered at the Naval Base Great Lakes in North Chicago, about 37 miles north of Chicago’s downtown.
The mayor said his team believes an extensive immigration sweep could come as early as Friday next week. He dodged a question on whether he has attempted to communicate with the White House by saying he’s made his position clear.
Asked about how effective his order is going to be given that federal agents don’t take orders from him, Johnson shot back: “Yeah, and I don’t take orders from the federal government. Thank you all very much.”
