Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
