Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared '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 signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched 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, arguing that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
