Around 500 National Guard troops were stationed near Chicago on Wednesday under President Donald Trump’s orders, despite protests from the city’s mayor and the Illinois governor, who criticised the deployment as an unnecessary militarisation and provocation.
Trump, in turn, called for the jailing of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, neither of whom has been accused of criminal wrongdoing. Both have emerged as prominent opponents of Trump’s immigration crackdown and deployment of National Guard troops in Democratic-leaning cities.
The National Guard said on Wednesday roughly 200 soldiers from Texas and 300 from Illinois had gathered in the Chicago area, and were ready to protect federal personnel, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and federal property in the city.
While Trump administration officials have sounded the alarm over what they call lawless and violent protests in cities such as Chicago and Portland, Oregon, demonstrations over Trump’s immigration policies have been largely peaceful and limited in size, far from the “war zone” conditions described by Trump.
Several hundred people marched in downtown Chicago on Wednesday evening, protesting the deployment of National Guard troops and reflecting increasing anger at the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign in the Chicago area.
In a new addition to the usual slate of protest chants, people shouted “Todos somos Silverio” or “We are all Silverio” after the fatal shooting of immigrant Silverio Villegas Gonzalez by ICE agents in a Chicago suburb in September.
Otherwise, the streets of downtown Chicago hummed with normal commuter traffic on Wednesday, except for the frequent drone of helicopters overhead, a feature of Chicago’s skies since the Trump administration’s federal incursions began last month.
In Latino and Black neighbourhoods of Chicago, where immigration agents have been most visible, people have come out of their homes and businesses to criticise the perceived mistreatment of their neighbours by federal officers.
Trump Calls For Jailing Democratic Leaders
Trump, elected last year following promises to crack down on immigration and retaliate against his political opponents, accused Johnson and Pritzker of failing to protect immigration officers who have been operating in Chicago.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote on social media.
Johnson, the Chicago mayor, signed an executive order on Monday creating an “ICE Free Zone” that prohibits federal immigration agents from using city property in their operations.
“This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere,” Johnson said on social media.
Governor Pritzker, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, likewise said he would not back down. “Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.
What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
Trump’s call to imprison the two elected officials comes as another high-profile political rival, former FBI Director James Comey, pleaded not guilty to criminal charges. Trump has frequently called for jailing his opponents, but Comey is the first to face prosecution.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, speaking at a White House event on Wednesday, said federal officers in places like Portland and Chicago had come under threat “on a regular basis.”
“Any elected official that allows this to happen … should absolutely be prosecuted, in my opinion,” Noem said after Trump directed a reporter’s question about arresting Democratic leaders to Noem.
Some official accounts of threats to federal officials have come into question. The lawyer of a woman shot by ICE agents said video evidence contradicts the government’s assertions. Likewise, police records and witness accounts of the shooting death of Villegas Gonzalez differ from the account offered by the Department of Homeland Security.
Legal Battles Over National Guard
Federal courts have placed some limits on Trump’s aggressive and unprecedented deployment of the National Guard where state governors say they are unwanted, but Trump has also threatened to invoke an anti-insurrection law to sidestep any court orders blocking him.
The National Guard deployments will be further tested in two court hearings on Thursday.
An Illinois federal judge will decide whether to temporarily stop the National Guard from deploying to Chicago, and an appeals court in California will review Trump’s initial appeal over his decision to send troops to Portland, which a federal judge blocked over the weekend.
Meanwhile, a federal judge ruled that ICE had violated a 2022 agreement that limits the agency’s ability in several Midwestern states to arrest immigrants without a warrant, in an opinion that could limit some of the aggressive tactics adopted by ICE since Trump returned to office.
Amid the court challenges, Trump has threatened to deploy troops to more U.S. cities, which he said last week could serve as “training grounds” for the armed forces.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday found most Americans oppose deployments without an external threat.
(With inputs from Reuters)
