Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump 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 put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending military units to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to 278 through August, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
