Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
