Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to 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 insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
