Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
