Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
