Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
