Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
