As a native Chicagoan, I must confess that I have little patience for Mayor Brandon Johnson, a politician who has been a disaster for the city. One of the most unpopular mayors in the city’s history, Johnson has been using the increased ICE operations to try to ride a wave of rage back into popularity. His language has become more and more inflammatory in calling for citizens to “resist” and “fight” federal law enforcement. Now, he is claiming the authority to not only mandate “ICE-free zones” in the city but to arrest federal officers.
Ironically, Johnson has declared that President Donald Trump wants a “rematch of the Civil War.” However, it is Johnson who is pursuing antebellum policies. It was the South that claimed independence from the Union and fought to expel federal troops.
Johnson signed a ridiculous executive order creating “ICE-Free Zones” to ban federal agents from using city-owned properties and property of unwilling private owners as staging areas for immigration enforcement.
The federal government has its own jurisdictional authority and can enter city and private property in pursuit of lawful operations. In terms of “staging” operations, the Constitution, not Brandon Johnson, protects citizens from having their property seized or used for the quartering of troops.
Most importantly, the City of Chicago cannot arrest federal officers who are conducting federal operations. This point was correctly noted earlier by Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling, who said that CPD officers will not arrest federal law enforcement, “because someone deems what they are doing is illegal.”
Nevertheless, Johnson was back to his signature chest-pounding bravado: “We’re going to see people in court. As far as other authority that allows for us to be able to enforce this ordinance, we’re exploring.”
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