Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers 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 the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
