Ex-President Donald J. 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.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, 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 combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
