Trump Demands Imprisonment of Chicago Leader and State Executive as National Guard Deploy in City

Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday 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 failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"

The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.

Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.

"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."

The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"

By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.

The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.

That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.

Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.

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

Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.

On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".

A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.

The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.

Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".

During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."

The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.

After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.

Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.

A recent poll published on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.

Steven Huang
Steven Huang

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