Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "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?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
