Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
