Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
