Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders 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 unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases 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 presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared 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 national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned sending troops to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
