Trump Demands Imprisonment of Chicago Leader and State Executive as Military Forces Arrive in Metropolis
Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
