Ex-President Donald 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 should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
