Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day 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 "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten 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 defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
