MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON HAS ESCALATED Chicago’s principled defiance of federal immigration enforcement atrocities, signing an executive order Monday that designates all city-owned properties as “ICE-free zones.”
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The move, part of Johnson’s Protecting Chicago initiative, bars ICE from using city facilities — including parking lots, libraries, parks, and municipal buildings — for immigration operations. Signs will soon go up across the city reading: “This property is owned and/or controlled by the City of Chicago. It may not be used for civil immigration enforcement, including as a staging area, processing location, or operations base.”
“Our school parking lots are not for ICE to load their weapons; they are for Chicagoans who drop their kids off to learn,” Johnson said in a statement. “We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority.”
City employees are now required to report any ICE attempts to use municipal property to the mayor’s office and corporation counsel, with potential legal action for violators. The order also offers private property owners free signage and “Know Your Rights” packets encouraging them to deny ICE access without a warrant — expanding Chicago’s already-strong sanctuary framework under its long-standing Welcoming City Ordinance.
The executive order follows reports that ICE agents have staged operations in neighborhoods like South Shore and Logan Square — including incidents involving clashes with protesters, detentions of local officials, and the use of smoke grenades. The mayor’s office said federal agents had even used city-owned lots for raids, prompting the ban.
Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., has filed a separate lawsuit to block President Trump’s deployment of 700 National Guard troops — 300 from Illinois, 400 from Texas — sent to secure ICE facilities across the state.
Legal experts say Johnson’s directive could spark a constitutional clash. While courts have upheld sanctuary laws that limit local assistance to ICE under the anti-commandeering doctrine, actively prohibiting federal agents from using public property could face challenges under the Supremacy Clause. Johnson, for his part, said he’s ready to litigate.
“We’ve seen what happens when ICE runs unchecked,” he said. “Chicago will not be their staging ground.”
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