President Donald Trump has called for the jailing of Illinois officials, accusing them of not doing enough to ensure the safety of federal immigration officers who are conducting raids in Chicago.
The president wrote in a social media post that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, both Democrats, “should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!”
Trump has previously called the city a “war zone” amid protests against immigration enforcement. Pritzker has called the president’s actions “authoritarian”.
The Republican president spoke as hundreds of National Guard troops arrived in the city as part of his immigration crackdown.
The standoff raises the temperature in an already heated rhetorical battle between Trump and local officials in Democratic-led cities and states.
The Chicago mayor quickly fired back at Trump, saying “this is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere.”
Pritzker vowed: “I will 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?”
The arrival of National Guard troops in Chicago follows similar deployments to Los Angeles and Washington DC to stem what the president has described as “out of control” crime.
Credit: bbc.com
