Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic 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 president to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
