Chicago Politics

Executive Order Signing 1.31.26

Chapters

Legislation

Description

Mayor Brandon Johnson signs an Executive Order.

Transcript

1:21 Good morning, good morning. Wow, good morning, everyone.

2:06 Well, listen, this is how you protect the people's chair right there. Can you at least let the brother get there, though? Did somebody get pregnant? I heard a lot of noise in my other office. Oh, we got the baby here. What's up? Hey. Thank you so much. Thank you all for being here. Hey, what's going on? Thank you. Thank you for being here. Yes, what's going on, Frank Chapman? We're good. Yes, sir. Mayor Johnson. Hey, what's going on? Thank you for being here.

2:36 I appreciate you all. Thank you all. Thank you all. Hey, what's going on? We're still holding on for next season. Hey, what's up, man? We made it. Hasta le vinte. We're so ready to go. Are you the reason why we're starting with this? Hey, what's up? Hey, what's up? You doing all right? Thank you very much. Good morning. Thank you. What's going on? Good morning, brother. How are you doing here?

3:07 Oh, just give us a minute here. All right, so listen, I have not announced that I'm running for the election. I'm hoping when that time comes, I can count on your support. I'm trying to build my political operation around here. That's a voter in 18 years.

3:41 Hey, what's going on? How are you? You doing all right? All right. Hey, good morning. Hey, what's up? Thank you all for being here. Of course, thank you. You have your mic right now. Yeah. All right. Just give me a second to get myself comfortable here. Okay, that's our theme music. Well, good morning, everyone.

4:16 I want to thank all of our community allies and all of our elected officials for joining us this morning. We are here on this Saturday with a very simple premise, that no matter what the Vice President or the President says, there's no such thing as absolute immunity in America. From the beginning, Chicago has shown that we are not afraid to go first we signed in an executive order establishing ice-free zones we did that just

4:47 a few months ago and now there are dozens of municipalities across the country that have adopted this same policy yes los angeles Yeah. Los Angeles County, Alameda County, San Jose, Providence, St. Clara, Oakland, Evanston, just to name a few. But as we have always said, this is an unprecedented situation

5:20 that would require us to continuously adapt to the challenging circumstances. And given what we have seen in Chicago, at least two people shot by ICE and Border Patrol agents, including one who was killed, Savario Villegas Gonzalez, an unarmed father who had just dropped his kids off to school. We've seen countless Chicagoans tear-gassed and attacked by federal immigration agents. We saw an apartment complex

5:51 raided in the middle of the night in South Shore. We saw a black man, a black man on the west side of Chicago in Garfield Park who was put in an illegal chokehold by ICE agents after they crashed their car into the hill. Another Chicagoan, Diane Figueroa, who was driving to get coffee before work when ICE agents crashed into her and then took her under arrest. They don't care about public safety.

6:22 They don't care about citizenship status. They don't care about due process. They don't even care about immigration. These federal agents are undermining the trust in law enforcement that we have been working really hard to rebuild over the past three years. These rogue federal agents are taking us backwards as a city. They are causing chaos and confusion. In response, the city of Chicago must respond with accountability and transparency.

6:58 The ICE unnoticed executive order is a step towards justice. This executive order will make Chicago the first city in the country to set the groundwork to prosecute ICE and Border Patrol agents for criminal misconduct. Because we need to send a clear message.

7:29 If the federal government will not hold these rogue actors accountable, trouble, then Chicago will do everything in our power to bring these agents to justice. As part of this order, our police department will document ICE and Border Patrol activity and attempt to identify officers on the scene. This evidence will then be preserved and, at the direction of my office, will be referred to the state's attorney's office for potential prosecution. The Trump administration has made it clear that they do intend to return to our city in force in the coming spring.

8:08 This order is a step towards making sure that Chicago is prepared. We will continue to learn from and work with other cities across the country as we all confront this moment. Finally, as Dr. King predicted more than 60 years ago, Chicago can serve as a model of nonviolent resistance that has the power to arouse the conscience of the nation. And so today, we see a full manifestation of the consciousness of our nation coming to life by way of the greatest city in the world, the city of Chicago.

8:48 In collaboration with community partners and local elected leaders, we will continue To not just go first in Chicago, but Chicago will lead this country. Thank you.

9:58 Good morning. How are you? Good morning. I'm well. Thank you. Okay. I do have to use this. I'd prefer not to, but that's okay. Talk a little bit about, Mayor, about what is the state's attorney on board with this as well? Are we looking at just a state-charged civil or criminal? Are we looking at federal charges, perhaps civil rights, but even though that office has basically been obliterated? And can you talk about, are CPD officers expected to take a more robust role in involving themselves

10:35 in any altercation? So are they detaining agents? Are they arresting agents? Talk about the depth of this. Yeah, thank you for that question. Well, first of all, the state's attorney, her office is in complete support of this executive order. In fact, what she has said, her office has said repeatedly, the reason why she has not moved forward with prosecution is because no evidence has been provided to her. Our office worked closely in collaboration with the state's attorney's office to ensure that this executive order will have the ability to do exactly what it is designed to do,

11:14 which is ultimately to provide real accountability in this country because right now we just don't have it at the federal level. As far as the activity of our local law enforcement, look, they have already been under an enormous amount of pressure, and quite frankly, even our local officers have been impacted by the indiscriminate releasing of tear gas on dozens of police officers. And so what this essentially will do, it will give a directive from my office to ensure that we're collecting evidence, They're providing medical care on scenes, but also making sure that that evidence is turned over for prosecution.

11:52 No, our local law enforcement will not be placing handcuffs on another law enforcement agency because unlike the president of the United States of America, my executive order in no way is going to pit law enforcement against law enforcement. In fact, I remember once upon a time, I was old enough to remember, I'm old enough to remember, when federal agents worked with our local police department to get illegal guns off the streets of Chicago, right? But this president, of course, has slashed the ATF budget, cut it by 30%, while guns are being trafficked to cities across America from states that voted for Donald Trump, right?

12:30 So this is really about ensuring that there's a clear directive from me, provides a mechanism for our local police department to be able to provide evidence. But it also ensures, I want to make sure that this point is clear, that residents who have been harmed in the past through midway blitz, that this executive order allows for their evidence to be submitted as well. And when that probable cause has been established, we will make sure that it gets to the state's attorney for full prosecution.

13:06 Why now? Why didn't you do this earlier if you think it's an important idea? Yeah, well, first of all, it's always the right time to ensure that justice prevails. There's always the right time to do that. And to be perfectly frank with you, did anybody in this room imagine that we would have a federal government that would not be accountable to its own rules and the Constitution itself? Right, as I said, that we're constantly evolving as we continue to respond to this unprecedented moment. So the time is always right to secure justice.

13:38 And, you know, again, we're living through some unimaginable times when you have an entire body of government that is not holding itself accountable. And so we have learned. And now as we have learned, we are putting forth this executive order at the very time at which as we prepare for what could be a surge in the spring. And you mentioned that this can apply to the past. What's a specific case that you think, you know, should the prosecution should move forward in? Well, look. There's too many to count, quite frankly, right?

14:08 And so, you know, one thing that I'm not going to do is interfere with justice. I'm just going to make sure that justice is served. You know, there are other authorities, too, like the state's attorney, that would have to move a prosecution forward. Are you going to try to use your bully pulpit to push them to prosecute if your police department recommends charges? We're going to use the pulpit of the community. It's not just on the mayor of Chicago. This is a nationwide effort to hold an authoritarian regime accountable.

14:43 Listen, if this was just about me, I would have beat him a long time ago. This is about all of us, right? So we're going to continue to use the collective power. Look, you're looking at Chicago right here. Every single neighborhood is represented here. Every single people group is represented here. That's the authority that we're going to walk with in this season. Hey, how you doing? Hey, good morning. Did you personally talk with the state's attorney while you were working on this? I have a statement from their office who says they look forward to reviewing the order now that we have received it.

15:20 Were they not given a chance to review this before today? We worked in collaboration with the state's attorney's office, the police department, our law department. All of us work together. We don't do sloppy work. We do our own work around here. There's too much at stake. In fact, she has made it very clear that she has not been able to move forward with prosecution because no evidence has been submitted to her. Now there's a mechanism in which evidence can be submitted to her, and that's a good thing for our democracy, and that's certainly a good thing for the people of Chicago. In our understanding, we were told this could be applied retroactively

15:54 to things that have happened this fall, this winter. Are there any potential shootings, alleged misconduct that has already occurred that you now believe should be forwarded to the state's attorney? Well, again, as I said earlier, I'm not going to get in the way of an investigation or any of the evidence. All I can say is the people of Chicago asked me to do more, so I've done more.

16:28 And the evidence that I believe is very clear, not just in Chicago, but across this country, that the hope and the expectation is that this is one more step closer to justice for families. Again, as I said earlier, a black man in an illegal chokehold is a death sentence. We've already seen that. There are countless examples of how constitutional rights have been violated in this city, the city proper, and across this country.

17:03 What we are offering in this moment is hope for the people of this city and this country that government can work on behalf of people. And that's what this executive order is designed to do. I'm just curious, what has the response been from Superintendent Snelling? because it seems like this could be some extra work for officers in the future here. Yeah, as I said earlier, we've worked in collaboration with the superintendent. We've worked in collaboration with the state's attorney. And our officers show up every single day doing the extra work.

17:39 This is really about how we can protect lives, how we can protect our city, our democracy. you know police officers show up every single day to ensure that they are serving and protecting and this is going to give them a clear directive of how their job just like all of our assignments continue to emerge during this time it's worth it it's worth it yeah all right thank you oh

18:17 I just wanted to have you clarify your thoughts on it. Obviously, you're concerned about another surge of federal immigration officers coming into the city of Chicago. Typically, those dragnets, so to speak, or whatever you wish to call it, focuses have been on black and brown communities. Can you talk about the concerns you have that if and when they come back in the spring that they will move beyond the black and brown communities and what's your message to those folks who may not have been as concerned but now may need to be concerned?

18:54 Well, let me just reiterate that an injustice anywhere is an injustice to all of us. And what I'm proud of is that we have a city that has stood firm on this issue. And you are seeing our city unite collectively around how we build a safe and affordable city and what the Trump administration has done, whether it's removing support for education, and particularly our black student success.

19:26 And we had to send more dollars to our Chicago Public Schools to secure that. the fact that he has taken food benefits away from families and you know I'm going to put our wonderful Alder of the 48th Ward on the spot here there's an incredible community organization that provides food assistance for families and I can tell you it's not just black and brown people in that line am I right this is already affecting black brown white Asian folks that's why you see this incredible rainbow coalition on the

19:59 fifth floor in this office you know and so you know my message to the people of Chicago is that we're gonna protect this city and you know I guess maybe my final message is the city of Chicago elected a middle child you know how honoring we can be you know so look I've been raised to take care of my younger siblings and held accountable by my elder siblings right and we're gonna to fight with everything in us and here's what i'm hopeful about when we come out of this we're

20:36 going to come out stronger this is not about returning back to the old form of politics because believe it or not there's some people in chicago and illinois who want to do that this is about how we transform this moment and so that message is clear we are going to protect chicago and i'm going to use every single tool available to me to ensure that this city is protected, loved, and supported. Thank you all very much.

21:53 but I wasn't here.

22:32 Thank you.

23:14 I don't think so.

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