Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
