Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
