ICE Has Run Rogue. These Governors And Mayors Are The Last Line Of Defense For American Democracy.

Marc H. Morial 
President and CEO
National Urban League

“If the federal government will not hold these rogue actors accountable, then Chicago will do everything in our power to bring these agents to justice.” – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson

There comes a point when euphemisms fail us. What ICE has done in Chicago and Minneapolis is not mere “overreach.”  Agents did not make “missteps” or “tactical errors.” These are clear, documented violations of the law and abuses of power that have endangered the lives of American citizens — and they demand a forceful reckoning. State and local leaders in Illinois and Minnesota have been forced into a role that should shame the federal government: they are defending the Constitution against the very agents sworn to uphold it.

In Chicago, a federal judge confirmed what communities have been shouting for years: ICE repeatedly carried out warrantless arrests in violation of a court‑ordered consent decree, blatantly disregarding the most basic protections of the Fourth Amendment. These arrests were not accidents or technical mistakes — they were a pattern of unlawful detentions, carried out by an agency operating with impunity.

Chicago’s own leadership has described ICE’s conduct in the city as a series of actions that violated constitutionally protected rights, destabilized neighborhoods, and provoked life‑threatening confrontations. This is the language officials use when an agency behaves like a lawless paramilitary force, not a legitimate arm of the federal government.

In Minnesota, federal agents went even further — storming homes without warrants, conducting stops without legal justification, and seizing people who had no criminal records, including children and U.S. citizens. These are illegal acts, full stop. Legal analyses make clear that ICE simply ignored the limits of its own authority.

And then came the deaths. Renee Good. Alex Pretti. Both killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis — killings that shocked the conscience of the nation and ignited statewide protests. These tragedies did not occur in isolation; they happened amid an operation so sweeping and unrestrained that Minnesota’s own governor called it an “occupation.”

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker saw Operation Midway Blitz for what it was: an unannounced, militarized federal invasion of his state. He immediately began preparing legal action against the Trump administration for its reckless deployment of ICE and Border Patrol agents into Chicago communities.

But Pritzker didn’t stop at mere rhetoric — he backed one of the strongest state‑level countermeasures in modern immigration policy. House Bill 1312 would create “safe zones,” ban ICE from courthouse arrests, and allow residents to sue federal agents who violate their constitutional rights. This is a direct and unapologetic challenge to ICE’s culture of impunity.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz took the federal government head‑on, calling the ICE surge “a campaign of organized brutality” and demanding it end immediately. Walz publicly condemned the indiscriminate stops, the home invasions, and the terror inflicted on families — stating plainly that the operation had caused generational trauma, economic devastation, and profound civic harm.

These are not the words of timid officials. These are the words of leaders who know their people are under assault.

In Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson did what the federal government has refused to do: he moved to hold rogue federal agents criminally accountable. His “ICE On Notice” executive order requires Chicago police to document illegal ICE activity, secure body‑camera evidence, and report violations of state and local law. This order makes Chicago the first city in America to build infrastructure capable of prosecuting ICE and CBP agents for misconduct.

Johnson’s message is unambiguous: if the federal government will not restrain its own agents, Chicago will do it for them. He has also strengthened sanctuary protections and barred ICE from using city property as operational staging grounds — a direct counterstrike against Washington’s authoritarian overreach.

In Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey has been just as explicit, calling for a nationwide end to the “ICE siege” and condemning the agency for transforming his city into the epicenter of an unconstitutional crackdown. Frey has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of federal forces and highlighted the catastrophic impact of ICE’s actions on Minneapolis residents, including shuttered businesses, terrified families, and the deaths of two community members at ICE’s hands.

This is what constitutional leadership looks like.

Let’s be very clear: ICE did not enforce the law — it violated it. It terrorized communities, conducted illegal operations, and left death in its wake.

And when federal leadership refused to enforce accountability, it was state and local officials — Pritzker, Walz, Johnson, and Frey — who stood up in its place.

Their defiance is not radical. It is not partisan. It is not symbolic.

It is constitutional patriotism.

At a time when a federal agency behaves as if it is above the law, these leaders have reminded the country that:

• The Constitution still applies.
• States still have rights.
• Local governments still have a duty to protect their residents.
• And no federal badge grants immunity from the rule of law.

America needs more leaders willing to confront unlawful federal power with this level of clarity and courage. Because if ICE can trample constitutional rights in Chicago and Minneapolis today, it can do the same in any American city tomorrow.

And if that happens, we will depend — desperately — on leaders like Pritzker, Walz, Johnson, and Frey to stand firm once again.

 
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            6TBE 2/14/26 ▪ 117 W. 125th Street ▪ New York, NY 10027 ▪ (212) 558-5300

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