Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
