President Donald Trump is calling for the arrests of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor J.B. Pritzker as tensions escalate in Chicago, where political officials and residents are protesting the White House’s latest crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump wrote Wednesday, October 8, on his social media platform, Truth Social, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel.
Pritzker responded on X (formerly Twitter): “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?”
Johnson on WBEZ said this about Trump. “He’s a double-minded man, and he is also very simple-minded. And it’s… not the first time that Trump has called for a Black man to be arrested. That’s not the first time. I have a responsibility to defend Chicago, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Trump’s remarks came as residents in South Shore remain shaken after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents reportedly raided an apartment building last week.
Congressmen Jonathan Jackson and Robin Kelly joined other officials in condemning the late-night raid after ICE agents allegedly detained and threatened residents without explanation. Witnesses said officers smashed windows and pointed guns at occupants.
On Tuesday, October 7, glass from shattered windows still littered the front lawn of the building as workers repaired its doors.
As residents recover from the raid, Chicago is bracing for potential unrest following the arrival of National Guard troops deployed from Texas. The troops are currently stationed at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a small village in Will County located about 50 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, near Joliet. Their presence in the region follows a federal order that Illinois and Chicago officials are still challenging in court.
On Sunday, October 5, 2025, Pastor Ira J. Acree, Senior Pastor of Greater St. John Bible Church and founder of the Leaders Network Chicago, called for immediate action against the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago.
“We will not stand by while you turn our streets into a battlefield — withdraw your forces and respect the will of the people!”
In nearby Broadview, where protesters have demonstrated outside an ICE facility for weeks, Mayor Katrina Thompson issued an executive order restricting protests to between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Trump has defended his Chicago-area immigration crackdown—dubbed Operation Midway Blitz—as necessary to apprehend what he called “the worst of the worst” criminal immigrants.
In response, Mayor Johnson issued an executive order declaring Chicago an “ICE-free zone,” barring federal immigration agents from using city property to conduct enforcement operations.
As tensions rise between Chicago and Washington, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling is defending his department’s role in weekend clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters in Brighton Park. That is where Border Patrol agents shot 30-year-old Marimar Martinez five times after claiming she drove her vehicle toward them.
However, body-camera video of the incident appears to contradict that claim. In court, Martinez’s attorney said footage captured an officer shouting “Do something, b—-” before opening fire.
Texas National Guard troops have reportedly gathered at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. Despite objections and a joint lawsuit filed by Johnson and Pritzker, the White House officially ordered the troop deployment on October 4.
In Chicago, U.S. District Judge April M. Perry has scheduled a hearing for Thursday, October 9, after declining to immediately block Trump’s order.
Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if judges continue to block federal troop deployments in Democratic-led cities.
“Chicago’s a mess,” Trump said in an August 22 post, claiming Chicagoans “are screaming for us to come.”
Pritzker pushed back, saying Illinois “won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator” and denouncing the troop activation as “a manufactured performance.”
“I want to be clear: There is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois,” Pritzker said October 4 on X. He added that the War Department had given him an ultimatum: “Call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a governor send up military troops within our own borders and against our will.”