Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
