Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and 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 his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled 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 enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
