Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state 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 arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
