🔗 Share this article

Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.

"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"

Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.

Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.

"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."

The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"

By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.

The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.

On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.

Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.

Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.

The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.

On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".

Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.

Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.

Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".

During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."

The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.

Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.

Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.

A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.