Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, 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 the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers 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 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" 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 banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
