Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 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 defend immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
