Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
