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Talking about his first-ever executive order aimed at federal immigration enforcement efforts, North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. is backed by federal, state and local officials. (Steve Sadin\/\u2019For the Lake County News-Sun)<\/p>\nMembers of the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operating in North Chicago are now more restricted in their execution of Operation Midway Blitz \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s enhanced Chicago-area deportation effort.<\/p>\n
No longer can immigration officials use city resources, property, personnel or other assets as they try to apprehend undocumented immigrants in North Chicago based on an executive order issued by six-term Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. with those and other prohibitions.<\/p>\n
Rockingham signed his first executive order in more than 20 years in office on Monday at City Hall, curbing the efforts of Border Patrol and ICE agents in the city with the hope of easing fears of some residents as immigration arrests accelerate in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis executive order is not just a policy decision,\u201d Rockingham said. \u201cIt is a statement of our values. This shows federal immigration enforcement action will not compromise the safety, trust or well-being of our residents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barring federal immigration officials from using any city-owned property as a staging area for its activities, Rockingham\u2019s order also keeps local police from detaining people based \u201csolely\u201d on civil immigration enforcement operations, according to the order.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur city is built on diversity, resilience and contributions of immigrants,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir contributions are a testament to protecting those principles that our city, the city of North Chicago, remains a safe and welcoming place for all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talking about his first-ever executive order aimed at federal immigration enforcement efforts, North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham Jr. is backed by federal, state and local officials. (Steve Sadin\/\u2019For the Lake County News-Sun)<\/p>\n
After Rockingham and U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Highland Park, spoke, Dulce Ortiz, the executive director of Mano a Mano Family Resource Center and a Waukegan Township trustee, told those in attendance about a North Chicago man taken by federal agents, prompting Rockingham\u2019s emotional reply.<\/p>\n
Ortiz said the man was helping a neighbor plant a tree on Oct. 12 on Lewis Avenue when he was taken. She got a call, and her rapid response team went into action. She had to tell the man\u2019s wife that her husband and her children\u2019s father was not coming home.<\/p>\n
\u201cBorder Patrol was in the neighborhood and saw three Latino men doing yardwork,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cLet\u2019s be honest about what\u2019s happening here. This is racial profiling. They\u2019re kidnapping community members who have been part of this community for 20, 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearing the story, Rockingham said what happened to the man was wrong. It was emblematic of the reasons he was compelled to issue his first executive order in his 21st year of governing the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be that way,\u201d he said. \u201cThey shouldn\u2019t be afraid of coming out of their house, and that\u2019s what the executive order of the city of North Chicago is about. We stand with those immigrants and say we do not accept it in the city of North Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schneider said the order is coming at the right time as Trump\u2019s immigration actions are accelerating their efforts in the Chicago area and show no signs of easing. Rockingham said he expects it to continue for the rest of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorth Chicago is drawing a clear and necessary line to protect our residents,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cThis executive order is about public safety because the Trump administration\u2019s actions with the use of ICE covering their faces, hiding their badges, hiding their identities, all of that, makes our neighborhoods less safe by creating fear and sowing distrust.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with prohibiting federal agents from using city facilities or property for civil enforcement actions, the order bans city officials from inquiring about an individual\u2019s immigration status unless legally forced to do so.<\/p>\n
City property that cannot be used as staging areas includes parking lots, vacant properties, garages or any other city-owned land, according to the order. A staging area is any place from which ICE or the Border Patrol may \u201cassemble, mobilize and deploy vehicles, equipment or materials.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lake County Board approved a resolution on Oct. 14 barring the use of county-owned parking lots, vacant properties and garages for civil immigration enforcement operations. Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said Monday his city plans to approve a similar resolution.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: October 21, 2025 at 2:22 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operating in North Chicago are now…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":321945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,36424,5386,1818,409,161068],"class_list":{"0":"post-321944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-federal-agents","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-immigration","13":"tag-north-chicago-mayor-leon-rockingham-jr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115413863021686043","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}