Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor 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 arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration 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 protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.