Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off 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 army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
