Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signs order prohibiting use of city property for immigration enforcement
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Monday morning prohibiting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies from using city property for civil immigration enforcement.
The order prohibits federal authorities from using city-owned or controlled parking lots, vacant lots and garages as staging areas, processing locations or operations bases for civil immigration enforcement activity.
The order defines as "staging area" as "any location used to assemble, mobilize or deploy personnel, vehicles, or equipment for immigration enforcement operations. This includes sites used for surveillance or logistical coordination," according to the mayor's office.
The order applies to all city-owned and city-controlled parking lots, garages and vacant lots, including Chicago Public Schools property, CBS News Chicago confirmed.
"Our school parking lots are not for ICE to load their weapons. They are for Chicago, who drop their kids off to learn," Johnson said. "Our libraries are not for ICE to prepare for a raid. They're for Chicagoans to read and relax. Our Parks are not for ICE to set up checkpoints. They're for Chicagoans to play and enjoy."
Additionally, the order supports private property owners, tenants and institutions to deny access to ICE and other federal agents working on immigration enforcement unless they can produce a warrant. The city will design and distribute official signage that will be given out, for free, to any private landowner or tenant can post on their property. The signage will clearly state no law enforcement official may enter for civil immigration enforcement, or use the property as a staging area, processing location or operations based.
The mayor's office said participation by private entities is voluntary but encouraged.
"By extending this protection beyond City-owned land, the Order builds a broad civic shield that limits the reach of harmful enforcement practices, strengthens neighborhood solidarity, and reaffirms Chicago's role as a Welcoming City," the mayor's office wrote in a fact sheet about the order.
Johnson's office said the order was prompted after federal agents used several city properties, including parking lots near Harrison and Kedzie and a vacant lot at 46th and Damen, as staging for immigration enforcement in recent weeks. The mayor's office said those actions undermine community trust and "runs counter to Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance, which ensures that all residents – regardless of immigration status — can live, work and seek services without fear."
The city will also distribute Know Your Rights materials explaining the rights of landlords, employees, tenants and security staff when approached by federal agents seeking access to a property.
The order takes effect immediately once it is signed and filed with the City Clerk.
Johnson said Chicago police will not be called if ICE agents ignore the signage prohibiting them from using spaces. Instead, he said the Department of Law will handle any violations by taking the feds to court.
"We cannot allow them to rampage through our city without checks and balances," Johnson said. "If congress will not check this administration, then Chicago will."
The White House responded to the executive order in a statement, saying in part, "Today, in a disgusting betrayal of every law-abiding citizen, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declared city spaces as 'ICE-free zones.' 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."
Johnson is also expected to speak at a media briefing with Gov. JB Pritzker at 2 p.m. after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit to stop the National Guard from coming to Illinois.