Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
