Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
