Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois 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 wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, 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 full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to 278 through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
