Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing 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 the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
