Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. 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 Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
