Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities 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 am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
