Local Police Departments in ‘Sanctuary’ Cities Rebel Against Democratic Mayors’ Anti-ICE Orders

Democratic mayors and lawmakers seeking to implement anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement rules in their “sanctuary cities” are getting pushback from local police departments who say they are not going to be used as a political pawn in a battle with the Trump administration.Many of the mayoral measures — a reaction to President Trump’s ICE surge in several Democrat-run cities — are largely toothless without buy-in from local law enforcement. Mayor Brandon Johnson, of Chicago, signed an executive order over the weekend ordering officers to document alleged misconduct by federal agents. His “ICE on Notice” order is being billed as a first in the nation rule to hold federal agents accountable for any legal violations.“Nobody is above the law. There is no such thing as ‘absolute immunity’ in America,” Mr. Johnson said. “The lawlessness of Trump’s militarized immigration agents puts the lives and well-being of every Chicagoan in immediate danger.”But the head of the Chicago police union, John Catanzara Jr. is calling the order a “piece of toilet paper.”“To demonstrate the level of incompetence in the mayor’s office, corporation council and law department, I simply point out the line about most immigration matters being civil and not criminal,” Mr. Catanzara told The Center Square.The Chicago Republican Party chairman, Chuck Hernandez, says police will not support the order. “He wants to foment hate for law enforcement and our federal law enforcement partners, and the police don’t want any part of this,” Mr. Hernandez said.The Seattle police union also is refusing to cooperate with a recent directive from the mayor ordering officers to investigate and document ICE activities in that city.Mayor Katie B. Wilson announced a set of orders late last month that included ordering the city police department to “validate status of federal agents through official identification” when they carry out operations in Seattle.The Seattle police union calls the actions “toothless virtue-signaling rhetoric.”“The concept of pitting two armed law enforcement agencies against each other is ludicrous, and will not happen, ” the Seattle Police Officer Guild’s president, Mike Solan, said in a statement. “I will not allow SPOG members to be used as political pawns.”The Los Angeles Police Department’s chief, Jim McDonnell, says his force will not enforce a new state law that makes it a misdemeanor for law enforcement officers to wear facial coverings, except in very limited situations.Governor Gavin Newsom signed the No Secret Police Act in September and it went into effect on January 1. Mr. McDonnell says the law was not well thought out.“The reality of one armed agency approaching another armed agency to create conflict over something that would be a misdemeanor, at best, or an infraction doesn’t make any sense,” Mr. McDonnell told reporters on Sunday.The Trump administration is suing California over the ban. The judge presiding over that case indicates that the law could discriminate against federal agents.

Local Police Departments in ‘Sanctuary’ Cities Rebel Against Democratic Mayors’ Anti-ICE Orders

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