Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending military units 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 necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
