Aldermen called on the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Brandon Johnson to do more in response to President Donald Trump’s deportation efforts Friday, pushing to spark investigations into complaints against federal immigration agents.
Ald. Andre Vasquez zeroed in on how Johnson’s January executive order aimed at facilitating the investigations is being implemented, insisting the city still needs “a clear process for how to investigate and hold accountable the people who are murdering our neighbors without consequence.”
Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, speaks to people gathered to protest in Chicago’s Northcenter Town Square in response to immigration enforcement officers detaining Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, an employee at Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center earlier in the day, Nov. 5, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
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Ald. Andre Vasquez, 40th, speaks to people gathered to protest in Chicago’s Northcenter Town Square in response to immigration enforcement officers detaining Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, an employee at Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center earlier in the day, Nov. 5, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Vasquez cited two recent fatal shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Texas and Maine as he argued the city must be more forceful and transparent as it investigates.
The hearing was another chance for Chicago aldermen voice their opposition to Trump’s deportation machine. Top Johnson deputies highlighted a new system to track complaints about agents as they touted the mayor’s consistent and dogged efforts to resist the president’s immigration policies.
But since Johnson signed the order directing police to collect evidence, investigate and potentially refer for prosecution immigration agents accused of misconduct, there have been too few signs of progress on that front, Vasquez argued.
He also criticized police for a recent uptick in arrests and citations targeting mostly Latino street vendors, including one who he said was detained by immigration agents in court and deported.
“We need answers to why CPD is neglecting to pursue investigations of the agents that terrorize our communities while at the same time targeting street vendors who are just trying to make a living,” he said.
As they faced questions, top Johnson deputies highlighted the many efforts to resist Trump and ICE undertaken by the mayor, who was a vocal objector to the president’s “Operation Midway Blitz” last fall and repeatedly filed lawsuits to try to block the president’s plans.
In addition to the police investigation order made after two high-profile killings by immigration agents in Minneapolis, the mayor issued executive orders that rejected Trump’s efforts to send National Guard troops to the city, reinforced protesters’ rights and banned deportation agents from using city property, Johnson’s chief strategy officer Sheila Bedi told aldermen.
Bedi said local governments across the country have copied Johnson’s orders to similarly push back against Trump.
“That is the legacy of these orders, showing that local government can lead with courage to use every lawful authority to protect the people it serves,” she said.
Hours before the hearing started, Johnson’s office announced an effort to convince Chicagoans to share information if they saw or experienced unlawful conduct by immigration agents.
“Your voice matters. Your experience matters. And your willingness to be heard can help ensure that everyone—regardless of their position or authority—is accountable under the law,” Johnson wrote in the release.
It was a subject Vasquez later zeroed in on as he pressed Police Department brass on their process for handling immigration agent-related complaints. He argued police must be more proactive and transparent in investigating immigration agents.
While police leaders said they didn’t know how often they’ve looked into ICE-related complaints, Captain Mike Kapustianyk of the Research and Development Division said the department implemented on Friday new tracking mechanisms for ICE-related complaints. Before the new system was created, police escalated immigration agent-related complaints to supervisors, he added.
The system will allow for evidence like written reports and video to be tracked and referenced, CPD General Counsel Scott Spears said.
“We want to make sure that there is a review that gets done to make sure that these very serious crimes can be put in a position to best be presented to the state’s attorney in the event that we are able to bring felony charges,” Spears said.
“It shouldn’t have taken five months,” Vasquez told the CPD leaders.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez told police that the department, not federal authorities overseen by Trump appointees, should have investigated the October shooting in Brighton Park of Marimar Martinez. He urged police and Johnson’s top deputies to create more pathways to spark investigation and state’s attorney prosecution.
Marimar Martinez listens to her attorney Christopher Parente testify about the day she got shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during an Illinois Accountability Commission hearing at the Michael A. Bilandic Building in the Loop on April 28, 2026. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
“I think that it is shameful that these instances have continued to pile,” he said. “Imagine the level of criminality that we have here, disregarding our laws.”
Bedi told Sigcho-Lopez that she shares his outrage. The city needs people to make complaints to police to gather the evidence needed to spark legal action, she said.
“We understand that part of the outrage here is that it has been widely reported. We’ve all seen it on our phones and in the news what this violence has looked like,” she said. “What is needed in order to ensure that cases can be referred are first-person accounts, are victims who are going to be willing to testify, to give further information.”
Aldermen also discussed the uptick in enforcement against street vendors, who have faced more arrests and citations by police in recent months. After public criticism, the city dropped its cases against nearly 20 vendors earlier this month.
Vendors urged aldermen to halt the crackdown.
Street Vendors Association president Juan Gama said vendors want to gain stronger legal footing and are willing to work with the city’s health and business permitting departments.
“We have been struggling over 30 years, someone has to help us legalize our business now. We love the city of Chicago. We have put down our roots here,” Gama said through a translator.