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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Saturday aimed at curbing the reach of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops, preemptively challenging President Donald Trump’s threats to deploy them to Illinois.
“We must take immediate, drastic action to protect our people from federal overreach,” Johnson, a Democrat, said at City Hall. “I will use every single tool at our disposal, and that includes the courts.”
The order directs the city’s law department to prepare legal challenges to any federal deployment and bars Chicago police from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement or participating in joint patrols with military personnel. Officers are also prohibited from covering their faces or department logos while on duty.
“We will not have our police deputized to do traffic stops and checkpoints for the president,” Johnson said. “We do not want to see families ripped apart, or grandmothers thrown into the back of unmarked vans.”
Rising federal tensions
The move comes as Trump has already deployed federal officers and National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and threatened to expand that model to other major U.S. cities, including Chicago and Baltimore. Earlier this month, The Washington Post reported the Pentagon was involved in planning a potential deployment to Chicago, while NBC News reported that federal authorities are preparing to surge immigration enforcement agents in the city.
Johnson said Chicago had received “credible reports” that militarized federal activity could begin “within days, not weeks,” though Trump has not formally announced a Chicago operation.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed Johnson’s order as partisan grandstanding. “If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer,” Jackson said, adding that Trump’s policies had reduced violent crime in Washington.
National backlash to Trump’s threats
Johnson’s stance echoes a growing chorus of Democratic leaders pushing back against Trump’s use of federal troops. More than a dozen Democratic governors released a joint statement this week condemning the administration’s approach, calling it “an alarming abuse of power” and “chaotic federal interference.”
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has acknowledged that crime has dipped since the federal surge but said the deployment of masked ICE agents and out-of-state National Guard troops has undermined community trust.
Trump officials continue to defend the strategy. Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News, “Chicago is coming, along with every other sanctuary city. Get out of the way, because we’re going to do it.”
Vice President JD Vance, speaking in Wisconsin last week, argued that federal troops would only be deployed if local leaders consented. But he also insisted the administration had the legal authority to act unilaterally. “Why is it that mayors are angrier about Donald Trump offering to help them than they are about their residents being carjacked and murdered?” Vance asked.
What’s next
White House officials have not confirmed whether Trump will move forward with a Chicago deployment. For now, Johnson said the city would fight any attempt.
“This is about defending Chicago’s sovereignty and protecting the people who call this city home,” the mayor said.
