Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned 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 combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
