Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied 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 Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. 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 the town. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent 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 necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
