Chicago Mayor Signs Executive Order Creating ICE-Free Zone

A Homeland Security spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the move would lead to violence against ICE agents.

Federal law enforcement agents are confronted by community members and activists for allegedly shooting a woman in the Brighton Park neighborhood in Broadview, Ill., on Oct. 4, 2025. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Oct. 6 signed an order to establish what officials say is an “ICE free zone” in the city in a bid to prevent cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The order, according to the Democratic mayor’s office, is designed to block federal immigration officials from using City of Chicago-owned property in their investigations into illegal immigrants in the city’s jurisdiction.

“We will not tolerate ICE agents violating our residents’ constitutional rights nor will we allow the federal government to disregard our local authority,” Johnson said in a statement, apparently referring to illegal immigrants.

“With this Executive Order, Chicago stands firm in protecting the Constitutional rights of our residents and immigrant communities and upholding our democracy.”

The order bars city-owned property, such as parking lots, garages, and vacant lots, from being used as staging areas for enforcement operations targeting illegal immigrants.

It’s not clear whether Johnson’s office has any jurisdiction over what ICE can do in the city. A section on the agency’s website says that the federal government “has primary authority over immigration matters,” meaning that it can “override state and local laws that conflict with federal immigration policy.”

A spokesperson for Homeland Security suggested that the mayor’s order would lead to violence against ICE agents.

“Just this weekend, he and Governor Pritzker refused to allow the local police department to give our officers back up at the scene of a law enforcement attack—a growing and violent crowd began throwing rocks at our law enforcement, yet their chief of patrol ordered their officers not to help,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Epoch Times on Oct. 6, in response to Johnson’s order.

“His reckless policies not only endanger our law enforcement but [also] public safety. While he continues to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto Chicago’s streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives—without pay—to arrest these heinous criminals and make Chicago safe again.”

McLaughlin was referring to federal payments being halted because of the ongoing government shutdown.

She added that the move is “demonizing ICE law enforcement” officials who were recently “attacked by domestic terrorists this weekend in his very city,” likely referring to an Oct. 4 incident in which two people were arrested after ramming law enforcement officials with a vehicle.

The spokesperson also pointed out that ICE agents have seen a more than 1,000 percent increase in assaults this year compared with the previous year.

In late September, a man armed with a rifle fired at an ICE office in Dallas, killing two detainees. Officials said that evidence showed that the suspected shooter wanted to cause terror among ICE agents.

Meanwhile, Illinois and Chicago officials filed a lawsuit to block the federal government from deploying National Guard troops to the third-largest U.S. city. The legal challenge came hours after a judge blocked the Guard’s deployment in Portland, Oregon.

The lawsuit filed on Oct. 6 alleged that “these advances in President Trump’s long-declared ‘War’ on Chicago and Illinois are unlawful and dangerous.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, has said that some 300 of the state’s National Guard troops were to be federalized and deployed to Chicago, along with 400 others from Texas.

In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, wrote on social media that the Guard deployment is needed to protect federal employees who are in the city as part of the president’s increased immigration enforcement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.