Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago 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 as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize 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 willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
