Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains 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 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
