Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including 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. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
