Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered 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 military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize 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. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
