Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides 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 deployment of military forces without an external threat.
