Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, 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 army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
