Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown 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 administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property 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, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
