US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for jailing the Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson and Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker in an escalation of his extraordinary attacks on political opponents.
"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!" Trump posted on his social media platform.
The Republican was referring to Democratic leaders in Illinois who oppose his order for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to conduct aggressive raids in Chicago.
Johnson signed an executive order on Monday creating an "ICE Free Zone" that prohibits federal immigration agents from using city property in their operations.
Trump authorises deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Illinois
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Trump's government has targeted Democratic-run cities around the nation for raids on migrants, often conducted by masked, plainclothes agents.
Hundreds of Texas National Guard soldiers have gathered at an Army facility outside Chicago, over the objections of Pritzker, Johnson and other Democratic leaders in the state.
The crackdown fulfils a key promise made by Trump in his election victory last year, where he described the United States as under attack by waves of foreign "criminals".
A parallel anti-crime campaign has been conducted by the military in the cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
Opponents describe the ICE and military deployments as a bid by Trump to assert authoritarian powers and to sow chaos by provoking a response.
Read moreTrump deploys National Guard to Chicago as judge blocks plan to send troops to Portland
Pritzker, seen as a potential Democratic candidate in the 2028 presidential election, has become one of Trump's most fiery critics.
He has said he wants prosecutors to investigate the legality of ICE activities in Chicago and says Trump is motivated by wanting to "punish his political enemies".
Johnson has also accused Republicans of wanting "a rematch of the Civil War".
Trump has faced other setbacks. A federal judge in Oregon blocked his bid to deploy troops in Portland, saying his descriptions of an emergency there were false and that the US is a "nation of Constitutional law, not martial law".
Trump says he could invoke the rarely used Insurrection Act to force deployments of troops around the country if courts or local officials are "holding us up".
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
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