Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
