Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
