Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed 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 faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
