Trump Calls for Imprisonment of Windy City Leader and State Executive as National Guard Deploy in Metropolis
Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units 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 essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
