Message for Trump from the mayor of an American metropolis: “We don't want to see tanks on the streets”
Brandon Johnson, mayor of Chicago Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / AFP / Profimedia
The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, has rejected a possible development of the national guard in the city by the US Federal Government, signing an executive order on Saturday to counteract an immigration repression, reports by Agerpres.
Referring to forces in Washington by US President Donald Trump, Johnson said: “We don't want to see tanks on our streets.”
There could be an intensification of the checks of residence permits at Trump's order, the mayor warned. “We received credible reports that we have days, not weeks, before our city witnesses a certain type of militarized activity from the federal government. It is not clear at this time what this will look like,” Johnson said.
Local Police will not collaborate with the army
“We could see a militarized application of the laws on immigration. We could also see troops of the national guard. We could even see the military in active service and armed vehicles on our streets. We did not ask for this. Our inhabitants did not ask for this, but, however, we are in a position to answer it,” he added.
The mayor also stated that, in view of this possibility, he signed an executive order by which he trained all the government departments of the city to protect the inhabitants from the actions of the federal government. As a result, the local police should not “collaborate with military personnel at the police patrols or the application of laws on civil immigration,” Johnson said.
Member of the Democratic Party, Johnson said that the “irregular and impulsive” nature of the Trump administration makes it difficult to predict if it continues to conduct troops and to the Republican president to change his mind.
Earlier this month, Trump activated the National Guard to combat the alleged crime out of control in Washington, another city led by a Democrat mayor. Police statistics do not provide any evidence of an increase in crime in the US capital.
The president indicated that Chicago could be the next city in which he believes the order should be established. In his opinion, crime is out of control there. Johnson states, on the other hand, that the number of homicides, robberies and shootings has decreased significantly in the last year.
