Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
