Mayor Johnson issues ICE guidelines; City Council to take up key vote next week
CHICAGO - Ten days before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office, Mayor Brandon Johnson is reaffirming Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance.
On Friday evening, Johnson issued guidelines to local agencies on how to handle visits from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
This comes as Tom Homan, the incoming border czar, has promised mass deportation in cities like Chicago, and as the City Council is expected to take up a key vote on the issue in the coming days.
If ICE agents visit a city property, Mayor Johnson is now urging the city’s sister-agencies to follow newly-issued protocol.
The guidelines include but are not limited to: "Contact your agency or department’s designated attorney or general counsel for further guidance; do not consent to ICE entering any private or ‘sensitive’ City location" and "the highest ranking official or designated supervisor should demand that ICE produce a judicial warrant authorizing ICE to search the premises."
"I am surprised, actually, that the mayor is going through this extraordinary effort to try and stop what Ald. Tabares and I want to do, which is to remove the small number of individuals who choose to commit crimes in the City of Chicago," said Ald. Ray Lopez (15th Ward). "The narrative out there by the mayor and his allies is that we’re trying to remove everyone—that’s simply not the case."
The guidelines—sent by the mayor's office at 5:15 p.m. Friday—come as city councilmembers are faced with a highly-anticipated vote next week.
Ald. Lopez and Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) have proposed legislation that would amend Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, allowing city agencies to work with ICE to identify undocumented individuals who have been arrested for, or convicted of certain crimes.
"One of four categories of crimes: Gang-related activity, drug-related activity, prostitution and human trafficking, or sex crimes involving minors," Lopez explained.
Lopez feels this will protect the hard-working immigrants who are here for a better life.
Johnson, however, said Chicago must remain a welcoming city for all residents.
"We know that Trump and Tom Homan are focusing on those undocumented and those with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) who choose to engage in criminal activity, who are dangerous," Lopez said. "We see Congress is even moving in that direction, in a bipartisan manner. Why wouldn't we try to join them in this effort? It really begs the question, who is the mayor trying to protect and why is he so hell-bent on protecting criminals here in the City of Chicago."
The proposed change is expected to be brought to a vote during the City Council Meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 15.
On Monday morning, Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) is rallying a group of organizations opposed to the proposal—calling the amendment "harmful," adding that it would divert public safety resources. They’ll be meeting outside of City Hall at 11 a.m.