Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
