Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois 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 social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, 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 urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations 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 Chicago, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
