Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now 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 the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
