Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment 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. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
