Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
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 road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
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 willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed sending military units to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
