Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
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 historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, including 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 defend ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
