Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
