By Kalea Hall
DETROIT, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has signed an executive order directing the city’s police department to investigate any alleged illegal activity by federal immigration agents and refer the agents for prosecution if necessary, his office said Saturday.
“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,” Johnson wrote in a statement.
The order instructs Chicago police officers to preserve body-camera footage from incidents and identify the federal supervisory officer on scene. Chicago officers are also supposed to complete reports on any state or local laws allegedly violated by federal agents.
The Homeland Security Department, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, said ICE personnel adhere to “the highest professional standard” in their work.
“These claims of criminal misconduct by ICE law enforcement are FALSE,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Federal agents are generally immune from state prosecution for actions taken as part of their official duties. Immunity only applies when an officer’s actions were authorized under federal law and were necessary and proper.
Prominent state and local Democratic leaders around the country have been pushing back against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts, especially following the deaths of two U.S. citizens killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Minnesota officials sued the federal government over the surge of immigration officers in that state, but a federal judge on Saturday declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have ended the operation.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, introduced a bill on Friday aimed at banning local law enforcement from being deputized by ICE to take part in immigration enforcement operations.
(Reporting by Kalea Hall; Editing by Sergio Non, Rod Nickel and Diane Craft)
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