Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
