Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
