Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
