Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court 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 that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
