Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles 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", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
