Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded 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 endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
