Ex-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 belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
