Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting 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 "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units 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 military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
