Trump Demands Jailing of Chicago Leader and State Executive as Military Forces Deploy in City
Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
