Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to over ten 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 defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
