Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings 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 city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
