Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
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 emergency powers, 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 dispatched or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
