Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival 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 represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
