Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker 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 military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
