Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers 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 recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased 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 that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
