❓WHAT HAPPENED: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced an executive order creating “ICE-free zones” in the city.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Trump administration, and the White House.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Monday, in Chicago, Illinois.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The order establishes ICE-free zones. That means that city property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids.” – Mayor Brandon Johnson
🎯IMPACT: The executive order directly challenges federal immigration enforcement efforts and has drawn sharp criticism from the White House.
On Monday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) issued an executive order establishing “ICE-free zones” in the city, amid heightened federal efforts to curb illegal immigration. Johnson declared, “Today, we are signing an executive order aimed at reining in this out-of-control administration. The order establishes ICE-free zones. That means that city property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids.”
The move will raise concerns about Johnson’s priorities, with his crime-ridden city having seen at least 30 people shot, five of them fatally, over the weekend.
As a sanctuary city, Chicago has been a key target of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions. The White House sharply criticized Johnson’s move to establish “ICE-free zones,” stating: “This is SICK. He is aiding and abetting criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, traffickers, and gang bangers.”
The Trump administration is currently moving to deploy National Guard forces from out of state to assist federal immigration enforcement personnel operating in Chicago, to the chagrin of Democrat state governor J.B. Pritzker, who signed a bill extending financial aid to illegal immigrants in August.
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