Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as 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 social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
