Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge 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 scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities 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 Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.