Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including 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 Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed sending military units to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
