Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
