Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, 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 crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were down 31% to 278 through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
