Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. 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 US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
