Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment 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 not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities 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, 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, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned deploying 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, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
