Former President Donald 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.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
