The provocateurs on both the right and the left over the weekend defined the narrative around the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge into Chicago and its suburbs.

On the right, we had Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers “patrolling” Latino neighborhoods in Chicago and tear-gassing scenes that arguably didn’t call for such heavy-handed tactics. We had the Department of Homeland Security making Hollywood-style videos of a wee-hours South Shore apartment building raid that looks more over-the-top with each passing day.

On the left, we had activists who were attempting — with cars or otherwise — to physically impede ICE and Customs Border Patrol agents from doing the work they’re legally allowed to do. With those tactics, these militant activists are imperiling the far greater number of peaceful protesters striving mightily to make their voices heard without breaking the law.

In the middle is everyone else.

The Chicagoans who are aghast at the chaos the ICE incursion is creating in our city. The public officials who are trying to remain cool in the face of such pressure, some more successfully than others. And even Chicago police officers who are catching intense heat from the right in following state and local laws that don’t allow them to cooperate with ICE in enforcing federal immigration laws in the absence of a warrant signed by a judge — even after more than two dozen of them were exposed to ICE-sprayed chemical agents while responding to a scene involving the federal agents.

The entire spectacle leaves all of us distraught.

In a statement over the weekend, the Civic Federation, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce called for cooperation from the Trump administration with law enforcement in Chicago rather than more provocations. “National Guard troops on our streets … have the potential to sow fear and chaos, threatening our businesses’ bottom lines and our reputation,” they wrote.

We have said much the same before, and continue to believe that military deployment against the wishes of local officeholders would be counterproductive at best and dangerous at worst. Any military deployment, if necessary, ought to be done in close coordination with local law enforcement. Under the present circumstances, that appears highly unlikely.

The state on Monday filed suit to enjoin the Trump administration from dispatching hundreds of National Guard troops, 300 from Illinois and 200 from Texas, to the streets of Chicago. A similar lawsuit was successful over the weekend to keep National Guard troops from being deployed to Portland, Oregon.

Courtrooms are where these battles belong, not on the streets. We would caution Gov. JB Pritzker and, more particularly, Mayor Brandon Johnson not to encourage unlawful protests. Johnson on Monday sounded shrill and didn’t imbue us with confidence.

After signing an executive order barring federal agents from city property, an order that will be difficult at best to enforce, Johnson warned that the city might have to “take even more dramatic action” if ICE raids and the like continue. Asked to elaborate on what that might entail, he responded, “Everything. Everything, whatever is necessary to ensure that we’re protecting people.”

Mr. Mayor, that’s not an appropriate response. Because “everything” isn’t legally at your disposal in response to what’s happening. Rhetoric along those lines can inspire the more militant among us to take actions that put themselves, innocent bystanders and first responders at risk.

To that end, we were heartened that the governor on Friday had Illinois State Police present at the federal detention center in Broadview, which has been the site of protests for several weeks. Pritzker took that step in response to the growing tension and some disturbing interactions between activists and ICE there, knowing he’d be criticized by voices on the left. Those critics predictably disparaged his effort to protect the rights of peaceful protesters as collaboration with federal immigration enforcement. Being governor sometimes entails taking actions that will make people in your own political tent upset. Pritzker deserves credit for doing so.

Still, we were concerned when Pritzker seemed to refer to Illinois as a “sovereign state” when understandably lamenting the potential arrival here of the Texas National Guard. Perhaps he was entirely using the adjective in terms of the Guard and its authorization, which is fine. But we remind everyone that Illinois obviously is not a sovereign state in the accepted sense of the word, meaning an independent political entity with total control over its own territory. Like it or not, there is a duly elected federal government with power over immigration laws in this state and that must be spoken to and negotiated with. There is no other choice.

And it was important, too, for Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling to make clear on Monday that CPD officers will respond to situations in which federal immigration agents are threatened physically. “You may not like what they’re doing,” Snelling said of the activists’ view of ICE. “That does not mean you get to commit a crime. Especially one that could lead to deadly force. We need to keep everyone safe.”

Snelling was responding to reckless online assertions that CPD officers were ordered to “stand down” on Saturday when federal agents called for help after one of their cars was purposefully boxed in on the Southwest Side. He denied that accusation categorically but allowed at a news conference that “there are things that we can work on” and that there has been some confusion within his ranks about when officers can and can’t respond to situations involving ICE agents. He said there would be no such confusion going forward and that he wanted his officers to respond quickly without waiting for guidance from their superiors if necessary.

For however long this federal operation lasts, it will be an acute challenge for our leaders to keep their cool. But that’s the task before them.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.