Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
