Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" 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 flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
