Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
