Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
