Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
