Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
