Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to 278 through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
