Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
