Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to 278 through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
