Trump Calls for Jailing of Chicago Mayor and Illinois Governor as Military Forces Arrive in Metropolis
Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.