Watchdog: Chicago mayor sued over vow to resist Trump deportation policies


The following is a press release from Judicial Watch.


Judicial Watch announced it has filed a lawsuit against Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for records related to his pledge to resist federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Office of the Mayor (No. 2025-CH-00347)).

On November 11, 2024, Mayor Johnson reaffirmed Chicago’s status as a “sanctuary city” during a press conference, stating the city would shield all immigrants, regardless of status, from federal agents. He also vowed to fight any federal efforts to block funding for the city due to non-compliance with immigration enforcement.

According to WTTW News, Johnson declared, “We will not bend or break. Our values will remain strong and firm. We will face likely hurdles in our work over the next four years, but we will not be stopped and we will not go back.”

The lawsuit stems from a November 27, 2024, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Judicial Watch. The request sought records or communications involving Mayor Johnson regarding efforts to resist immigration law enforcement. Judicial Watch claims the mayor’s office failed to provide adequate responses.

The Trump Justice Department had previously directed federal prosecutors to investigate and consider prosecuting “resistance, obstruction, and other non-compliance with lawful immigration-related commands and requests from federal authorities.” Fox News reported that since August 2022, Chicago has spent $574.5 million on sheltering migrants.

“Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced himself and his city government to be outlaws on illegal immigration as they plan to help illegal aliens resist the rule of law. This scandal is worsened by the evident cover-up of the full scope of Mayor Johnson’s lawlessness, which Judicial Watch aims to remedy with our open records lawsuit.”

Tom Fitton, President, Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch is represented in this lawsuit by attorney Christine Svenson of Palatine, Illinois.

Read the press release from Judicial Watch here.

Read the full lawsuit here or below.


IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, CHANCERY DIVISION

JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.,
Plaintiff,
vs.
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR,
Defendant.

COMPLAINT IN CHANCERY FOR DECLARATORY JUDGMENT AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

Now comes Plaintiff, Judicial Watch, Inc., by and through its attorneys, Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman, LLC, and prays that this Court render a declaratory judgment and grant injunctive relief under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 ILCS § 140/1, et seq. For its Complaint, Plaintiff states as follows:

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

  1. The Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 5 ILCS § 140/11(d).
  2. Venue is proper in Cook County pursuant to 5 ILCS § 140/11(c).

PARTIES

  1. Plaintiff Judicial Watch, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) is a not-for-profit, educational organization incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. Plaintiff seeks to promote transparency, accountability, and integrity in government and fidelity to the rule of law. As part of its mission, Plaintiff regularly requests records from public bodies, analyzes the responses it receives, and disseminates its findings to the American public to inform them about “what their government is up to.”
  2. Defendant Office of the Mayor, City of Chicago (“Defendant” or “Office of the Mayor”) is a “public body” as defined by 5 ILCS § 140/2(a). Defendant has possession, custody, and control of the public records to which Plaintiff seeks access. See 5 ILCS 140/2(c).

STATEMENT OF FACTS

  1. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson held a press conference on November 11, 2024, at which, according to a WTTW News report, the mayor stated that city officials “will continue to shield all immigrants in Chicago from federal agents, regardless of whether they are citizens, permanent residents or asylum seekers, despite the election of President-elect Donald Trump.” According to the WTTW News report, Mayor Johnson said he “was prepared to fight any effort to stop federal funds from flowing to Chicago because it will not cooperate with mass deportation efforts, and would work to stop the arrival of immigration agents.” “‘We will not bend or break,’ Johnson said. ‘Our values will remain strong and firm. We will face likely hurdles in our work over the next four years but we will not be stopped and we will not go back,’” WTTW News reported. (available at https://news.wttw.com/2024/11/12/chicago-will-remain-sanctuary-city-despitetrump-s-threats-mayor-brandon-johnson-says).
  1. On November 27, 2024, Plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to Defendant seeking access to the following public records:
    Records or communications of Mayor Brandon Johnson or his designated representative about plans or preparations to resist federal efforts to enforce immigration laws or not-cooperate with ICE deportations.
    The timeframe of the request was identified as “October 1, 2024, to present.”
  1. Defendant acknowledged receipt of the request by email sent the same day the request was served, November 27, 2024. Defendant’s email advised Plaintiff that the request had been assigned tracking number F090241-112724.
  2. By emails dated December 5, 2024, and December 12, 2024, Defendant granted itself two, five-day extensions of time to respond to the request. Defendant’s December 5, 2024 email represented that Defendant could not comply with the request within the time limits prescribed by law without unduly burdening or interfering with Defendant’s operations.
  3. By letter dated December 18, 2024, Defendant denied Plaintiff’s request. Defendant’s letter asserted that Defendant had reviewed the request and that “the Mayor’s Office has no responsive records for your request.” The letter did not claim a search had been conducted, much less describe a search reasonably calculated to discover the requested records. Nor did the letter assert that responsive records exist but were exempt from production.

COUNT ONE (FAILURE TO CONDUCT A SUFFICIENT SEARCH)

  1. Plaintiff reaffirms paragraphs 1-9 as though fully restated herein.
  2. Defendant is in violation of FOIA. Defendant failed to demonstrate that it conducted a search reasonably calculated to discover all records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request.
  3. Defendant’s failure to conduct a reasonable search prevented Defendant from producing all non-exempt, responsive records to Plaintiff. Plaintiff therefore is being irreparably harmed by Defendant’s failure to conduct a reasonable search for records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request as Plaintiff is being denied its legal right to inspect public records.
  4. Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law.

COUNT TWO (FAILURE TO PRODUCE ALL NON-EXEMPT RESPONSIVE RECORDS)

  1. Plaintiff reaffirms paragraphs 1-13 as though fully restated herein.
  2. Defendant failed to produce all non-exempt records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request.
  3. Plaintiff is being irreparably harmed by Defendant’s failure to produce all non-exempt, responsive records as Plaintiff is being denied its legal right to inspect public records.
  4. Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that the Court:

(A) Declare Defendant to be in violation of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS § 140/1, et seq.;
(B) Order Defendant to conduct a search reasonably calculated to discover the requested records and produce an affidavit describing its search efforts and demonstrating that its search was conducted in good faith;
(C) Order Defendant to produce any and all non-exempt, public records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request;
(D) Enjoin Defendant from withholding access to non-exempt public records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA;
(E) Order Defendant to prepare an affidavit identifying with specificity any and all public records responsive to Plaintiff’s FOIA request that are claimed to be subject to legal exemption from disclosure and further identifying with specificity the reasons for any such claim of exemption;
(F) Award Plaintiff reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; and
(G) Order such other and further relief as the Court finds just and equitable.

Dated: January 14, 2025
Respectfully submitted,
Christine Svenson
CHALMERS, ADAMS, BACKER & KAUFMAN, LLC


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6 thoughts on “Watchdog: Chicago mayor sued over vow to resist Trump deportation policies”

  1. The names people of Chicago have called this mayor! I think he may want to think about another career after the next election. America First! ULTRAMAGA!

  2. Let’s go Brando n – to prison, I hope. Chicago must not need any federal taxpayer money if they have so much that they can throw $500 million away on illegals.

  3. Thank you as always for your good work!

    You may want to (DOWNLOAD before removed) and take a look at City of Portland Mayor Elect Keith Wilson during an Employee Town Hall Meeting held on December 5th, 2024:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-tx9PPCd5E&t=5s

    There is also a tunyurl address available here for the same video: https://tinyurl.com/PDXMayorWilson

    Please go to timestamp 20:15 thru 21:50 / 58:03 for a most timely message which relates to your article. Mayor Wilson’s entire segment aires from timestamp 8:08 thru 21:50 / 58:03.

    You will also note a thumbnail video stream of the speaker in the upper right hand corner of the video.

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