Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
