Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
