Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge 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 set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
