Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities 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 spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
