Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.