Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded 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 ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia 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 rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses 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.
A recent poll published on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
