Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten 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 protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
