Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas 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.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to 278 through August, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
