Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
