Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" 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 signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
