Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
