Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending military units 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 military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
