Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an external threat.