Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, 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, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
