Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers 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".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
