Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
