Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
