Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"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."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
