Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
