Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, 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, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
