Chicago's mayor has signed an executive directive ordering the city's police department to probe allegations that federal immigration agents have engaged in unlawful conduct and to pursue prosecution referrals where appropriate, his office said.
The order instructs Chicago police officers to preserve body-camera footage from incidents involving federal immigration personnel, to identify the federal supervisory officer present at the scene, and to complete reports outlining any state or local laws that the federal agents are alleged to have broken.
In a statement accompanying the order, the mayor said, "With today’s order, we are putting ICE on notice in our city. Chicago will not sit idly by while (President Donald) Trump floods federal agents into our communities and terrorizes our residents."
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, rejected the allegations. "These claims of criminal misconduct by ICE law enforcement are FALSE," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, asserting that ICE personnel adhere to "the highest professional standard" in their work.
Legal protections for federal officers complicate the city-level response. Federal agents are generally immune from state prosecution for actions taken as part of their official duties. That immunity applies only when an officer's actions were authorized under federal law and were necessary and proper, a limitation the order and subsequent actions will likely need to navigate.
The mayor's directive arrives amid visible resistance from state and local Democratic officials to an expanded federal immigration enforcement presence. Officials in Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the influx of immigration officers, though a federal judge declined on Saturday to issue a preliminary injunction that would have halted the operation.
In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul introduced legislation intended to bar local law enforcement from being deputized by ICE to participate in immigration enforcement operations, reflecting similar state-level efforts to restrict cooperation with federal agents.
Chicago's order requires municipal officers to document incidents involving federal immigration personnel thoroughly, centering body-worn camera preservation and supervisory identification as immediate steps for any encounter that raises questions of legality under state or local statutes. The mayor's office framed the directive as a formal mechanism to ensure accountability and to provide a basis for referrals for prosecution if investigations find unlawful conduct.
Context in recent days shows a patchwork of legal and political responses to federal immigration enforcement activity - from lawsuits seeking to curb operations to proposed state laws aimed at limiting local participation - while federal officials continue to defend their conduct as meeting professional standards.