Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents 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."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
