Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime 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 law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
