Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging 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 case is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
