Trump Demands Imprisonment of Windy City Leader and Illinois Governor as National Guard Arrive in Metropolis
Ex-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 belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to 278 through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.