Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
