Former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 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 "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed sending military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
