Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"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."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 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 hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
