🔗 Share this article Trump Calls for Imprisonment of Windy City Leader and State Executive as Military Forces Arrive in City Former President Donald J. 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 Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!" The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction. These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor. "This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put." The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?" By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts. Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders. On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings. Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound. Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December. Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb. Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky". A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day. The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts. Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces". During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority." The historic federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law. After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents. Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data. A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.