Here's Why Cities Won't Be Able to Stop Trump's Secret Police

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned Tuesday that while she welcomes a “partnership” with federal law enforcement, “we do not welcome dictatorship, we do not welcome authoritarianism, and we do not welcome unconstitutional arrest and detainment of our residents.”

But while President Trump threatens a national surge of federal forces dubbed "Operation Legend," experts say there’s little local officials can do to stop the feds from turning more U.S. cities into Portland, where unidentified federal agents in fatigues have beaten and fired projectiles at BLM protesters and even snatched them off the streets in unmarked cars.

While some of Trump’s “secret police” tactics against protesters may be brazenly unconstitutional, legal scholars said they’ll be very hard for mayors and governors to stop, thanks to the vast authority Trump enjoys to protect federal property.