Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
