Trump: Chicago Mayor Pritzker should be jailed for failing to protect ICE agents

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, both Democrats, should be jailed for failing to defend U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

“The Mayor of Chicago should be in jail for failing to protect the ICE agents! So should Governor Pritzker!” Trump wrote at Truth Social.

Trump’s remark came after Texas National Guard troops arrived in Illinois on Tuesday to protect federal personnel and property amid anti-immigration protests.

“I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of the elected officials who control his power. What else is left on the path to full-fledged authoritarianism?” Pritzker said Wednesday in reaction to Trump. “We all need to stand up and speak out.”

CHICAGO MAYOR CREATES “ICE-FREE ZONES” TO BLOCK FEDERAL AGENTS FROM CITY PROPERTY

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have pushed back against President Donald Trump’s plan to send the National Guard and increase Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations to Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to have a black man unjustly arrested. I’m not going anywhere,” Johnson added in a post on X.

He also said during an appearance on CNN: “This president is unstable, deranged, an irresolute individual who, frankly, poses a threat to our democracy.”

White House Press Secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, “JB Pritzker and Brandon Johnson have blood on their hands.”

“These failed leaders have stood idly by while innocent Americans are victims of violent crime time and time again. This past weekend alone, 30 people were shot and five of them died. But instead of taking action to stop the crime, these buffoons deranged by Trump would rather let the violence continue and attack the president for wanting to help make their city safe again,” she said. added.

President Donald Trump, left, calls for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, center, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to be jailed for “failure to protect” ICE agents. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A Pentagon official said 200 Guardsmen had been mobilized for an initial period of 60 days.

The troops arrived in Illinois “to support the federal protective mission to protect federal functions, personnel and assets,” according to a Pentagon statement.

PRITZKER SUES TRUMP TO BLOCK NATIONAL GUARD ACTION IN ILLINOIS

Federal law enforcement officers arrive near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois, Friday, October 3, 2025. (AP/Erin Hooley)

A dozen people were arrested near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, where anti-immigration crowds have been gathering for days.

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem announced Saturday that additional special operations personnel would be deployed to Illinois after federal agents were struck and surrounded by 10 cars.

Johnson reiterated Tuesday that he believed the deployment was “unlawful, unconstitutional, dangerous and wrong.”

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Pritzker and Johnson also filed a lawsuit Monday to block the Trump administration from deploying hundreds of National Guard troops from Illinois and Texas to Chicago and surrounding cities.

Breanne Deppisch of Fox News contributed to this report.