Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, according to sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
