
THE mayor of Chicago hit back on Saturday against the “out-of-control” Trump administration’s plan to surge federal officers into the nation’s third-largest city, which could take place within days.
The Chicago Police Department will be barred from helping federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement or any related patrols, traffic stops and checkpoints during the surge, according to an executive order signed by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
The mayor directed all city departments to guard the constitutional rights of Chicago residents “amid the possibility of imminent militarised immigration or National Guard deployment by the federal government.”
The federal surge into Chicago could start as early as September 5 and last about 30 days, according to two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The officials described the immigration crackdown as part of a larger effort to expand the federal law enforcement presence to tackle crime in major Democratic-run cities, as it did this summer in Los Angeles.
Mayor Johnson described President Donald Trump as “reckless and out of control,” and “the biggest threat to our democracy that we've experienced in the history of our country.”
In response, the White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said: “If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticise the president, their communities would be much safer.”