Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
