Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to 278 through August, per police data.
New survey data released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
