Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials 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 put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
