Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
