Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
