Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders 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, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
