Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block 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 dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
