Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
