Chicago's 'ICE-free zone'
CHICAGO’S ‘ICE-FREE ZONE.’ One of the main themes of the second Trump administration has been the explosive collision between the president’s determination to enforce federal immigration law and many Democratic leaders’ determination not to enforce federal immigration law.
Conflicts have arisen across the country, ranging from peaceful protests to violent protests to obstruction of immigration authorities’ work to attempted murder of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The latest big fight is in Illinois, where the Democratic governor, who wants to be president, is fighting with President Donald Trump, and the Democratic mayor of Chicago has announced a new tactic to nullify federal law.
Chicago is already a sanctuary city, meaning that it prohibits, or severely limits, its law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal law enforcement. It goes as far toward defying federal law as is possible. Now, Mayor Brandon Johnson has issued an executive order declaring Chicago an “ICE-free zone.”
“Today we are signing an executive order aimed at reining in this out-of-control administration,” Johnson announced Monday. “The order establishes ICE-free zones. That means that city property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for [immigration] raids.”
Johnson said he acted after reports that federal agents used Chicago Public Schools parking lots, as well as another city-owned parking lot, as “staging sites for federal immigration enforcement operations.”