Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard 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 has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
