Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor 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 armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send regular army in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
