Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
