Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten 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 essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
