Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
