Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
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 current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
