Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms 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 arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable 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, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying troops to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to 278 through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
