Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
