Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
