Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform 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. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
