Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops 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 direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll published on that day found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
