Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, 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?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations 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 the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
