Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted 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 remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
