(CHICAGO) — The Chicago area is bracing for additional immigration enforcement over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed back against President Donald Trump Saturday after the president increased his threats to send in federal troops to the city with a social media meme.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump reshared an image that places him in front of Chicago that insinuated he was going to take action against the city, referencing his recent rebranding of the Pentagon the “Department of War.”
Pritzker slammed Trump and said that the president threatened to go to war with the city by posting the memes.
“This is not normal. Donald Trump isn’t a strongman, he’s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator,” Pritzker wrote in an X post.
Johnson echoed the governor’s sentiment, saying the president’s “threats are beneath the honor of our nation, but the reality is that he wants to occupy our city and break our Constitution.”
“We must defend our democracy from this authoritarianism by protecting each other and protecting Chicago from Donald Trump,” the mayor wrote in an X post.
A White House spokeswoman criticized the Illinois leaders in a statement, citing Chicago’s murders during the Labor Day weekend.
“Local Democrat leaders are more upset about a post from the President — that tells you everything you need to know about the Democrats’ twisted priorities,” Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman, said in a statement to ABC News.
The back and forth between Trump and Chicago Democrats has increased over the last week as the president has vowed to step up federal enforcement of crimes and immigration enforcement, including by deploying the National Guard.
Pritzker warned that there has been a surge in ICE agents in the city and that there could be as many as 300 ICE agents this weekend, according to local officials.
In response to the possibility of added ICE enforcement, city officials from neighboring communities say they are bracing for the increase of agents in communities, according to Gregory Jackson, who serves as the Chief of Staff in North Chicago, Illinois. Agents and officials are expected to operate out of the Great Lakes Naval Station for about 30 days, he said.
Fencing was seen going around the federal courthouse in Chicago, in anticipation of the enforcement actions occurring, according to city officials.
El Grito Chicago, the city’s festival for Mexican Independence Day, postponed the event scheduled for next weekend citing ICE activity.
“It was a painful decision, but holding El Grito Chicago at this time puts the safety of our community at stake – and that’s a risk we are unwilling to take,” the event posted on its website.
On Saturday, a crowd of protesters gathered outside Naval Station Great Lakes to protest the expected immigration crackdown.
Trump has repeatedly singled out Chicago as he has mulled sending the Guard to other major American cities following his federal takeover of Washington. Trump has said he preferred that cities ask for his administration’s assistance.
Pritzker has pushed back on the Trump administration’s involvement in Chicago, saying “I will not call the president, asking him to send troops to Chicago. I’ve made that clear already,” Pritzker said.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told ABC News that the enforcement is targeting the “worst of the worst” criminals.
“It is no surprise that these criminals flock to sanctuary cities where politicians protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets putting American lives at risk,” the spokespersons said. “DHS will go to wherever these criminal illegal aliens are — including Chicago, Boston and other cities. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, nowhere is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”
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