Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he 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. Yet, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to 278 through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
