CHICAGO () President-elect Donald Trump and his border czar, Tom Homan, have pledged to make Chicago “ground zero” to begin deporting immigrants en masse who are in the U.S. illegally and have been arrested for or convicted of criminal offenses.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has pushed back, however, insisting the incoming administration and federal immigration agents will get no cooperation from Chicago. But with the clock ticking before Trump begins his second White House stint, two Chicago alderpersons hope to amend Chicago’s welcoming city ordinance to allow city police officers to cooperate with federal immigration agencies.

Alderpersons Raymond Lopez and Silvana Tabares plan to bring an amendment of the existing ordinance to a vote of the Chicago City Council next week. Chicago’s existing policy, which was strengthened in 2021 by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, prohibits police officers and other law enforcement from working with ICE and other agencies when an immigrant in the U.S. illegally is arrested.

Under the two alderpersons’ proposal, migrants who have been arrested or convicted of gang-related crimes, selling and buying drugs, prostitution, human trafficking and sexual crimes involving minors could be handed over to federal agents once they are apprehended by Chicago cops.

Lopez told he believes Chicago can remain a sanctuary city while still helping with federal efforts to deport migrants in the U.S. illegally with criminal pasts.

“I believe in immigration, I believe Chicago should be welcoming, but I also understand that if you choose to act in dangerous and illegal ways, I should have no sanctuary for you here in my city,” Lopez said.

The proposed amendment reinstitutes carveouts that previously allowed for cooperation between city and federal officials, Lopez said. He told that he is only interested in including the specific crimes outlined in his proposal to show Homan and Trump that the city is willing to assist in removing migrants who are criminals.

In doing so, Lopez said the majority of the nearly 52,000 immigrants and asylum-seekers who have arrived in Chicago since 2022 would be better protected from being swept up by ICE as part of a search for criminals who are here illegally.

Homan has told that while the focus is on deporting criminals in cities like Chicago, other immigrants who do not have criminal backgrounds could be “on the table” for being deported if they are found with those being apprehended by federal agents.

Opposing views on Chicago’s sanctuary city status

Lopez, who has met with Homan privately since the election, says he takes Trump and Homan at their word that their mass deportation efforts would begin in welcoming cities like Chicago. Johnson, the city’s mayor, has remained firm in protecting Chicago’s sanctuary city status and has repeatedly said that the city will not assist ICE in deporting migrants.

“We will not bend or break,” Johnson told reporters after the election. “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.”

Johnson’s office is urging city council members to reject the proposal, saying it could “increase overpolicing in Black and Brown communities,” according to a memo obtained by .

Lopez said by working with ICE, the city would “limit excursions” by federal agents looking for criminals, which he says puts those who are meant to be protected by the city’s welcoming city ordinance at risk. He also said amending the current ordinance takes away the political necessity for the Trump administration “to make a show out of” going after migrants who are criminals.

However, other city leaders who have pushed back against Trump’s efforts in targeting sanctuary cities insist that opening the door to working with ICE by changing existing city policy is not the best method for protecting immigrants and asylum-seekers.

Alderperson Andre Vasquez told that he believes the proposed changes are more about political posturing for a city with an unpopular mayor than about keeping immigrants safe.

“It’s unfortunate and feels kind of opportunistic given the current moment to try to push something like this,” Vasquez, who chairs the Chicago City Council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said. “The reality is, there are already laws in place for someone who commits a crime, and there needs to be due process.

“So I think what (Lopez) is proposing is something that is galvanizing on people’s feelings when the reality is that this is something the Chicago Police Department has said they do not support and that it could complicate their jobs. So, if anything, it could make us less safe.”

Meanwhile, Alderperson Bryon Sigcho Lopez told Block Club Chicago that his two colleagues seeking to amend the ordinance are “trying to score cheap political points by lending ears to Trump’s narrative that faults immigrant communities for local and national economic and social problems.”

Lopez, who has been a vocal opponent of the mayor and others who have aligned themselves with Johnson’s stance, said the issue of how to handle Chicago’s sanctuary city status has become politically motivated.

He said the only goal is to target those who choose to commit crimes. But with Trump and Homan ready to go after migrants illegally in Chicago, he said he would rather work partially with the incoming administration than “thumb their nose” toward the effort like he claims Johnson and other city officials are guilty of doing.

Lopez said that the push to change city policy isn’t about political posturing but instead about protecting immigrants and asylum-seekers who make up a large part of his constituency. He said to taunt Trump and Homan with resistance will only hurt the city and those who live here. Trump has said that sanctuary cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration officials risk losing federal funding.

In 2017, Trump signed an executive order designed to take millions of dollars from Chicago if it did not amend its Welcoming City policy. The city council voted to instead reaffirm the ordinance, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, WTTW reported.

Vasquez said if there is a middle ground to be found, perhaps it exists by leaving the existing policy in place without taunting Trump and daring him to take action in Chicago.

Last year, Chicago Alderperson Anthony Napolitano told that Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city has not benefited the city as a whole. But Lopez is hoping to win over city council members who still believe that the city should continue to ignore Trump’s warnings.

“If my colleagues and the mayor don’t’ understand that the incoming president of the United States means business on this matter, it’s not a game of chicken I would want to be a part (of),” Lopez told . “We can do the right thing. We can set right this policy that allows us to be welcoming, allows us to help people, allows us to honor our tradition that goes back 40 years while also keeping communities safe.”