Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding 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'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent 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, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
