Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas 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 the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
