Chicago mayor calls for local government 'process' to prosecute feds
[January 28, 2026]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Chicago officials are digging in against federal
immigration law enforcement.
City council committees on police and fire and immigrant and refugee
rights held a joint meeting on Tuesday afternoon and approved an
amendment allowing the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to
investigate complaints of police officers violating the city’s welcoming
city ordinance.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said his office championed the proposal that was
introduced by Alderperson Jessie Fuentes.
“It is not enough to be a welcoming city on paper. We must enforce our
local laws so that we can maintain the trust that we have built between
law enforcement and immigrant communities throughout Chicago,” Johnson
said.
During the public comment period, several speakers demanded
accountability from police and cited examples they said demonstrated
cooperation between officers and federal immigration agents.
“Chicago police should not be protecting ICE,” said community organizer
Esther Martinez.
The Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights provided a video of police
officers advising federal immigration law enforcement officers about
transporting detainees.
Alderman Nicholas Sposato indicated he would support the amendment, but
he challenged Deputy Mayor Beatriz Ponce de León about the killing of
Americans by people who are in the country illegally.
Sposato’s comments sparked an exchange with de León objecting to the
word “illegal,” Sposato saying he didn’t use the term and Alderman Andre
Vasquez interjecting to continue the meeting.
Several aldermen expressed concerns that no high-ranking member of the
Chicago Police Department was at the meeting, but Fuentes said the
amendment had the support of police superintendent Larry Snelling.
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Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson speaks to reporters during a
news conference in Springfield. Photo: Greg Bishop / The Center
Square
The measure passed and could be considered at the next full council
meeting on Feb. 18.
Johnson thanked Chicagoans who protested last weekend against what
he said was the unjust killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in
Minneapolis.
“Nurse Pretti, who was born right here in Illinois, was engaging in
the time-honored and sanctified American tradition of protesting
unjust actions by an overbearing federal government,” Johnson said.
Pretti was born in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge.
Johnson was asked if his office was coordinating protests and
violence against federal law enforcement.
“To not protest in this moment would be a derelict of duty,
particularly at a time when we see the rise of tyranny and fascism
that threatens the sensibility of our humanity,” Johnson said.
The mayor said federal agents are being directed by the Trump
administration to shoot and kill.
“After what we have seen in the streets of this country, we have to
seriously look at how local government can ultimately not just bring
charges and investigation against the federal overreach, but how we
can create a process that allows for prosecution of these
individuals,” Johnson said.
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