Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for 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 failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
