Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
