Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying 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. However, the president has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
