Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
