Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable 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. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
