Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops 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 aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day 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 "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
