Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region 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," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
