Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
