Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration 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 his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
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 "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
