Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
