Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
