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 ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities 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 the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
