Chicago Mayor Issues Order To Resist Trump’s Crime Crackdown
Chicago’s Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Saturday aimed at restricting federal law enforcement and National Guard activity in the city, framing it as a response to President Donald J. Trump’s vow to restore law and order in Illinois.
“We find ourselves in a position where we must take immediate, drastic action to protect our people from federal overreach,” Johnson declared at a press conference.
Johnson ordered the city’s legal department to use “every legal mechanism” to block Trump’s potential deployment of federal officers or troops, promising to escalate the fight in the courts:
“We will use every single tool that is at our disposal, and that includes the courts.”
According to NBC News, Johnson’s order also restricts how Chicago police may interact with federal law enforcement. It bars officers from concealing their badges or department insignia and forbids them from assisting in immigration enforcement or patrols with military personnel.
Johnson said the goal was “transparency and accountability,” but he made clear his real aim was resisting Trump’s plan to tackle crime and illegal immigration in sanctuary cities:
“This order affirms that the Chicago Police Department will not collaborate with military personnel on police patrols or civil immigration enforcement. We will not have our police officers deputized to do traffic stops and checkpoints for the president.”
He further escalated his rhetoric with dramatic imagery:
“We do not want to see families ripped apart. We do not want grandmothers thrown into the back of unmarked vans.”
Trump’s Crime-Fighting Push Expands
President Trump has already deployed federal law enforcement and troops to Washington, D.C., where violent crime has dropped significantly. Even Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser admitted this week that the Trump administration’s strategy led to “serious reductions in crime.”
Now, Trump is considering expanding operations to sanctuary cities like Chicago and Baltimore. White House officials and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan have been clear: sanctuary cities will no longer be exempt from federal law enforcement.
“Chicago is coming, along with every other sanctuary city,” Homan told Fox News. “President Trump is committed that we’re going to focus on and prioritize sanctuary cities because that is where the problem is. Get out of the way, because we’re going to do it.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson blasted Johnson’s executive order as a political stunt:
“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. Cracking down on crime should not be a partisan issue, but Democrats suffering from TDS are trying to make it one.”
She added that Johnson should learn from Bowser:
“They should listen to fellow Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser who recently celebrated the Trump Administration’s success in driving down violent crime in Washington DC.”
Democrats on the Wrong Side of Crime
Johnson warned that Chicago could see “days, not weeks” before a federal deployment, speculating about “militarized immigration enforcement,” National Guard units, or even armed vehicles.
But while Democrats like Johnson paint Trump’s actions as “federal overreach,” Republicans argue the administration is simply enforcing federal law and restoring order to violent, lawless sanctuary cities.
With midterms approaching, Democrats risk alienating voters by siding with criminals and illegal aliens over safe streets—a gamble unlikely to resonate beyond their activist base.