Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center 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.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
