Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
