Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to 278 through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
