Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
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 Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
