Trump Demands Jailing of Chicago Mayor and State Executive as National Guard Deploy in City
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.