Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke 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 national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
