Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. 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 deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
