Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
