Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t just defend protests against federal immigration enforcement this week — he stepped into open constitutional confrontation, suggesting Chicago should explore charging and prosecuting federal agents for what he described as federal “overreach.”
The argument mirrors the states’-rights structure historically invoked by the Confederacy and later segregationist governments to resist federal authority.
In both cases, local officials assert the power to judge federal action as unconstitutional “overreach” and to decide how to resist it.
“After what we have seen in the streets of this country, we have to seriously look at how local government can ultimately not just bring charges and investigation against the federal overreach, but how we can create a process that allows for prosecution of these individuals,” Johnson said.
“To not protest in this moment would be a derelict of duty, particularly at a time when we see the rise of tyranny and fascism that threatens the sensibility of our humanity,” he added.
“A state has the right to judge of infractions of the Constitution, and the mode and measure of redress.” — John C. Calhoun, South Carolina Exposition and Protest (1828)
Source: Mayor Brandon Johnson defends ICE protests, addresses winter storm response — NBC Chicago (27 January 2026) Watch: https://youtu.be/CbJUjYZUkQY?si=ihKn7XhH2YS_x5wu
