Chicago Braces For Surge In Immigration Raids As Mayor Brandon Johnson Urges City To ‘Resist’
The mayor’s chief of staff said federal agents received notice to deploy to five Democrat-led cities, including Chicago — where recent actions have already drawn thousands to the streets in protest.
by Quinn Myers
June 11, 2025
DOWNTOWN — City leaders are bracing for an influx of federal agents to be deployed to Chicago for immigration raids — and Mayor Brandon Johnson is encouraging Chicagoans to “resist” President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement.
Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Johnson’s chief of staff, said to reporters Wednesday city officials have been told federal agents received notice a day earlier that they had 48 hours to deploy to five Democrat-led cities, including Chicago. Pacione-Zayas said that the tactical teams would be “targeting workplaces in terms of the raids.” It comes as another anti-Trump rally is again expected to draw thousands Downtown this weekend.
Pacione-Zayas also suggested that Chicago could see a similar law enforcement and military presence as has been used in Los Angeles for much of the past week.
“We’ve seen how they’ve shown up in LA with the mini tanks, with arms, with also chemical agents, we have seen them in full riot gear, we have seen them fully concealed,” she said.
Johnson said Wednesday he’s “counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment.”
“It’s a war on our culture. It’s a war on our democracy. It’s a war on our humanity. I am counting on all of Chicago to resist in this moment because, whatever particular vulnerable group is being targeted today, another group will be next,” the mayor said. “I know there is an effort to divide us in this moment, but none of us are immune from this disease.”
Recent federal immigration enforcement actions have sparked clashes between elected officials, activists and law enforcement while spurring protests including a Tuesday march that filled major Downtown traffic arteries with marchers.
A rally and march more broadly protesting President Donald Trump and his administration is likely to draw thousands of people Downtown Saturday amid a swell of protest activity taking place this week across the country.
The “No Kings” march and rally is scheduled for 12-2 p.m. Saturday at Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St.
The Chicago event is one of hundreds of similar protests taking place nationwide on Saturday, including in Evanston, Oak Park, La Grange and other suburbs.
It’s being organized by Indivisible Chicago and numerous local political groups, unions and other organizations.
“No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. We’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like,” organizers wrote on the march’s website. “On June 14th, we’re standing together to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings.”
Saturday’s march comes a few days after thousands of Chicagoans took to the streets Tuesday to protest against recent Immigration and Custom Enforcement raids locally and across the country.
Organizers said Tuesday’s marches were at once a rebuke of recent local Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and a show of solidarity with Los Angeles, where thousands of National Guard troops and Marines were deployed and a curfew was set in place after protests erupted in the city following immigration raids — and to protest similar tactics used by federal agencies in Chicago.
At least 10 people were arrested by ICE at check-ins under a monitoring program for immigrants last week in Chicago’s South Loop.
Police said that 17 people were arrested during the Tuesday protests, including four on felony charges — which include aggravated battery and criminal damage to government property. Some vandalism to police cars and other property was visible during the demonstration, although the march remained mostly peaceful.
Johnson on Wednesday pledged Chicago police officers and city workers would protect the First Amendment rights of protestors on Saturday and beyond, while also making sure the city continues to run as normal — citing last year’s Democratic National Convention as a successful precedent.
“We’re going to make sure that here locally, that we demonstrate what’s sensible about our democracy, and that’s protecting the fundamental right to protest and demonstrate and to peacefully assemble,” he said. “If individuals work outside of those confines, we’ll hold them accountable.”
The “No Kings” march organizers are urging participants to remain non-violent and peaceful during Saturday’s protest. The event is coinciding with Trump’s planned military parade in Washington, D.C., which is expected to see thousands of troops march through the nation’s capital.
This article was originally published by Block Club Chicago.