Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
