Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
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 Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
