Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
