Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of 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 social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
