Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
