President Donald Trump has intensified his confrontation with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, declaring Wednesday that the two Democratic leaders “should be in jail” for their efforts to impede federal immigration enforcement in the city.
The president took to Truth Social to accuse the leaders of “failing to protect” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers he has dispatched to Chicago to carry out sweeping raids as part of his mass deportation agenda.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote.
The remarks follow a weekend clash over federal authority. Both Pritzker and Johnson had vocally opposed the deployment of federal law enforcement and refused the president’s request to send in state National Guard troops to assist in protecting the federal agents. RELATED: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd Rips Chicago Chief For Ordering Officers Not To Aid Attacked Federal Agents
However, President Trump ultimately overruled their objections and, over the weekend, dispatched members of the Texas National Guard to Chicago.
The Democratic officials were quick to hit back against the president’s threat.
Governor Pritzker responded on X, promising he would “not back down” and asserting that President Trump is “on the path to full-blown authoritarianism.” Mayor Johnson also used X to counter the president, writing, “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”
Tensions between the White House and Chicago’s leadership center on the scope and methods of federal immigration enforcement.
While the Trump administration argues that the efforts by Pritzker and Johnson to limit the federal presence are attempts to endanger immigration agents, the local leaders contend they are trying to limit the “chaos” imposed by the administration.
“Their plan all along has been to cause chaos, and then they can use that chaos to consolidate Donald Trump’s power,” Pritzker stated during a Monday news conference.
The escalating tension comes as residents and federal law enforcement have been involved in fraught encounters in the city. Over the weekend, a woman was shot and wounded by federal Border Patrol agents.
The Department of Homeland Security claims the shooting occurred after authorities were boxed in and rammed by vehicles, and the woman has since been charged. However, the woman’s attorney argues that body camera footage shows authorities taunting her before the incident.
In response to the federal actions, both local leaders have taken measures to assert local control. Governor Pritzker filed a lawsuit on Monday in an attempt to block the federalization of the Illinois National Guard and its deployment to Chicago.
However, President Trump responded by sending the Texas National Guard hours later. Mayor Johnson signed an executive order prohibiting ICE and other federal agents from using city property for civil immigration enforcement.
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