Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and 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 his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed sending troops to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
