Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
