Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as 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 defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
