Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send regular army in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
