Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
