Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
