Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, 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 authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
