Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to 278 through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
