Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated 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 uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
