Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief 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 deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
