Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
