Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump 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. However, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
