This Mayor Just Announced 'Ice-Free Zones' in His City

Townhall.com ^ | 6 October A.D. 2025 | Jeff Charles

[lightman]

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order on Monday banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from city-owned spaces. This move comes as the city’s leadership is challenging the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.

ICE agents and other federal agencies will not be permitted to use city-owned areas to prepare for or conduct their operations.

From NBC Chicago:

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday signed an executive order aimed at limiting where federal agents can gather in the city, prohibiting them from using certain city-owned spaces for immigration enforcement activities.

The order, which is set to take effect immediately, will prohibit federal immigration authorities from using "city-owned or controlled parking lots, vacant lots, and garages as staging areas, processing locations, or operations bases for civil immigration enforcement activities," it states.

"In recent weeks, federal agents used several City-owned properties—including parking lots near Harrison and Kedzie, and a vacant lot at 46th and Damen—as staging sites for immigration enforcement," the mayor's office said in a release about the order. "Such use of City property undermines community trust and runs counter to Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which ensures that all residents—regardless of immigration status—can live, work, and seek services without fear."

During a press conference, Johnson explained that the order is “aimed at reining in this out-of-control administration” and that it “establishes ICE-free zones.”

“That means that city property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids,” the mayor added.

Johnson slammed the Trump administration and ICE for its enforcement operations in the Windy City.

"We have a rogue, reckless group of heavily armed, masked individuals roaming throughout our city that are not accountable to the people of Chicago,” he said. “Their actions put all Chicagoans at risk.”

"Our school parking lots are not for ICE to load their weapons; they are for Chicagoans who drop their kids off to learn,” the mayor continued. “Our libraries are not for ICE to prepare for a raid; they're for Chicagoans to read and relax. Our parks are not for ICE to set up checkpoints; they are for Chicagoans to play and enjoy.”

This comes after Fox News’ Bill Melugin reported that the city’s Chief of Patrol instructed police officers not to respond to calls for help coming from Border Patrol agents if they find themselves in a precarious situation.

On Saturday, ICE agents shot and wounded a woman who rammed a vehicle carrying federal agents in Chicago. The agents opened fire after she tried to ram them with her vehicle as they exited their vehicles. She was arrested and hospitalized soon after.

[lightman]

Let's go Brandon!

[Red Badger]

Stupid man...................

[SmokingJoe]

Trump just loves such fights.
He almost always wins at SCOTUS or on the ground where he has vastly superior forces.
This is not the Bush regime.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order on Monday banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from city-owned spaces.

Here’s the issue: Between Federal law and and an executive order by a city mayor, which one has priority?

[catnipman]

time to terminate ALL Federal LEO funds to Chicago ... oh, and of course to otherwise ignore the illegal executive orders ...

[shelterguy]

Best of luck getting any federal funds in the future.

[Sequoyah101]

FAFO

Meanwhile, where are the hamas hostages that were to be released by Yesterday or “all hell breaks lose”? Where is the hell?

[catnipman]

“Here’s the issue: Between Federal law and and an executive order by a city mayor, which one has priority?”

rhetorical question, right?

[ClearCase_guy]

I actually LOL’d at this. What a buffoon.

I think VDH is calling these people neo-Confederates — which I think it not really an optimal name for them. But this whole idea that “My part of the country no longer recognizes federal law” has got some real 1861 vibe about it. Those wacky Democrats!

[null and void]

I'll probably get some serious flack for this but...

I think President Trump is making a mistake here.

Let me explain, he should be following Saul Alinsky's rule:

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

Rather than force sanctuary cities to accept NG troops, making him the bad guy, he should embrace sanctuary cities and announce that under no circumstances will federal agents remove any illegal alien from a sanctuary city.

Force the sanctuary cities to totally and solely own the crime and squalor. It's their city and their rule, make them live by it by themselves!

Crack down on illegal aliens where they are not coddled by the locals. This will have the support of the locals!

Never actually say "illegals go home" or -God forbid!- move to a sanctuary city. They'll figure that out all by themselves and make the move on their own time and own dime.

Eventually (it takes a while for liberals to wake up)

the sanctuary cities will be victims of their own rules.

At that point, without actually admitting they were wrong, they will be begging for help.

Now the National Guard and President are viewed as saviors and heroes...

[Danie_2023]

Um... these Democrats really do think they are above the law... especially federal law. They’re about to FAFO, I suspect.

[beethovenfan]

Chicago citizens hate this stupid mayor.

[Tai_Chung]

Does that include city streets?

[Cobra64]

We got it the first 5000 times.

[Tell It Right]

[EQAndyBuzz]

Just do it outside of the ICE facility and have traffic for miles.

[Cobra64]

Obstruction of justice.

[xkaydet65]

Dems trumpeted Art VI for generations when conservatives resisted federal jurisdiction. Shoe...Other Foot. Of course it could return to haunt us.

[PUGACHEV]

Here’s the issue: Between Federal law and and an executive order by a city mayor, which one has priority?

I seem to recall that there was some extreme unpleasantness surrounding this issue back in the mid-1800s. How did that work out?

[lee martell]

Where, indeed. Sometimes, Trumps Red Line Ultimatums work as intended, with full compliance by the other party, and sometimes, the moment quietly breezes by, with nothing having changed at all. It’s a risk he frequently takes.

He has to be careful the other party doesn’t start calling his bluff. Then, there are the times when Trump will have one of those Drug Boats from Venezuela en route to the USA, literally blown out of the water! He’s done this recently, at least five different times. He is unpredictable. So, now there’s that possibility for all opponents to consider before they start to gloat.