Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders 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 an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
