Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
