Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had arrived at 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.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
