Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers 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 rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel 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 stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
