Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, 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.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
