(CNN) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Saturday signed an executive order directing city police to investigate and document alleged misconduct by federal immigration officers with an eye toward prosecution.
“We are putting ICE on notice in our city. Chicago will not sit idly by while Trump floods federal agents into our communities and terrorizes our residents,” Johnson said in a statement, referring to President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration enforcement efforts around the country.
The move comes as nine local district attorneys launched a coalition this week to assist in prosecuting federal law enforcement officers who violate state laws, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed legislation, which would prohibit cooperation agreements between local police departments and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Tensions between Washington and the leaders of progressive US cities have mounted since the deadly and chaotic federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis resulted in the fatal shooting last weekend of Alex Pretti, the second Minnesotan to be killed by federal agents in the state this year. The deaths of Pretti and Renee Good on January 7 have transformed the heated national debate on immigration enforcement.
“We need to send a clear message: If the federal government will not hold these rogue actors accountable, then Chicago will do everything in our power to bring these agents to justice,” Johnson said shortly before signing the so-called “Ice On Notice” executive order.
“This executive order will make Chicago the first city in the country to set the groundwork to prosecute ICE and Border Patrol agents for criminal misconduct,” the mayor said.
The order directs the Chicago Police Department to document federal enforcement actions, preserve body-camera footage, attempt to identify the federal supervisory officer on scene of an incident, complete a report on the alleged misconduct and immediately summon emergency medical services, according to Johnson.
“In the event of illegal misconduct by federal immigration agents, CPD supervisors will preserve evidence of the incident and … make a referral of felony matters to the Cook County State’s Attorney,” the mayor said in a statement.
CNN has reached out to the Chicago Police Department and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for comment.
John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, in an email dismissed the executive order as a “piece of toilet paper” and “more political bluster from City Hall.”
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, in an email response Saturday to Johnson’s call to action, said “claims of criminal misconduct by ICE law enforcement are FALSE.”
DHS, which includes ICE and the Border Patrol, told CNN its personnel receive regular training and are held to “highest professional standard.”
DHS reiterated its claim that local officials have been unwilling to work with them, citing sanctuary city policies.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, acknowledged Thursday the immigration enforcement effort in Minnesota needed to be “fixed” and said his team was working on a drawdown plan while sharpening the focus of operations on undocumented immigrants with criminal records.
Deployed by the administration to Minneapolis to manage ICE operations in the wake of Pretti’s fatal shooting, Homan said not “everything that’s been done here has been perfect” and that “certain improvements could and should be made.”
Johnson cited the Pretti and Good shootings, as well as two other incidents in Chicago involving federal immigration officers. In September, an ICE officer fatally shot a man who DHS said resisted arrest and dragged the officer during a vehicle stop in a Chicago suburb, according to DHS.
The man, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, was an undocumented immigrant, according to DHS. The officer, who was not immediately identified, was released from the hospital after suffering injuries, an ICE spokesperson said.
In another incident, Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old US citizen, was shot five times by a US Customs and Border Protection agent after her vehicle and a federal law enforcement vehicle collided on October 4 in Chicago.
A federal criminal complaint accused Martinez of ramming her car into the law enforcement vehicle, and a DHS official referred to her as a “domestic terrorist.”
In November, a US District judge dismissed federal charges against Martinez after prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges. Martinez’s defense attorney, Christopher Parente, alleged that it was actually the agent who sideswiped Martinez. The attorney also shared concerns that the government moved evidence about 1,000 miles from the city that may have supported the defense.
Johnson, in a statement, said the Chicago Police Department was directed to issue guidance and procedures to implement the order within 30 days.
“This is a nationwide effort to hold an authoritarian regime accountable,” he said.
The-CNN-Wire
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