Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago ordered city police on Saturday to begin formally documenting instances of aggressive and potentially illegal federal immigration enforcement actions, looking to build cases for prosecution against the most egregious actions.
Mr. Johnson’s order now codifies the role of local police in identifying agents and documenting their actions, adding to a nationwide effort by neighbors and community groups to use cellphone footage and informal databases to capture how immigration agents have used force to detain people across the country.
The order, signed Saturday, instructs the Chicago Police Department to ensure that body cameras worn by officers record any use of force, injuries or other actions, as well as the name and badge number of the supervisory federal officer present at an immigration operation. Officers that are called to a scene involving federal immigration agents are also now required to report any apparent violations of state or local law — and refer cases to the state’s attorney’s office — and create a public record of how many times police have reported or responded to allegations of illegal force. It also requires Chicago police to provide immediate medical care if needed to anyone present.
Mr. Johnson said the order was “a step toward justice,” as he invoked the series of fatal shootings involving immigration agents in recent months, including the September death of one man outside of Chicago and the two shootings in Minnesota in January.
“This is really about ensuring that there’s a clear directive from me,” said Mr. Johnson, a Democrat, as well as “a mechanism” for police to provide evidence. He said he believed Chicago was the first city in the country to take such a step.
Mr. Johnson’s order, which applies only to the actions of federal agents, is the latest effort by Illinois leaders to push back against the Trump administration’s sprawling campaign to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. Tensions have boiled since the fall, when federal officials began Operation Midway Blitz, a large-scale immigration operation in Chicago.
Local officials were already prohibited from helping with civil immigration enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The administration has defended the campaign in Chicago and other, predominantly Democratic-led, cities as an effort to arrest undocumented immigrants accused of violent crimes. But some activists and lawyers have said that the operation also swept up some American citizens and people with no history of violence, including children.
This week, Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, also a Democrat, asked a state commission to probe the policy statements and decisions made by top Trump administration officials as part of an accounting of the Chicago immigration operation. Those officials include Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff; Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary; and Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official whose tactics across the country have prompted controversy and legal rebuke.
Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville.
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