Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, 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 armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
