Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded 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 endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking 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 the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
