President Donald Trump called for the arrests of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as hundreds of National Guard troops seemed poised to enter the city where tensions are boiling over the Trump administration's aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration.

"Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!" Trump wrote on his social media platform on Wednesday Oct. 8, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel.

Pritzker responded defiantly, writing on X, "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?" Johnson said he's "not going anywhere" and added "This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested."

The back-and-forth comes as Texas National Guard troops were seen assembling at the Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, a village about 45 miles southwest of Chicago. Troops arrived after the White House ordered their deployment on Oct. 4 over the vociferous objections of local and state leaders, who filed a lawsuit challenging the move.

U.S. District Judge April M. Perry at an emergency hearing allowed the deployment to move forward but warned that any troop action before an Oct. 9 hearing could be used as evidence against the Trump administration.

Pritzker and Johnson for weeks have condemned increasingly aggressive ICE raids in the city and Trump's characterization of Chicago as "the worst and most dangerous city in the world." Earlier this week, Johnson signed an executive order establishing an "ICE Free Zone" prohibiting federal immigration agents from using city property in their operations.

The nation's third-largest city has become the latest flashpoint in the Trump administration's intensifying deportation campaign and crackdown on crime in Democratic-led cities. Trump this week floated the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act if judges or leaders in blue cities continue to hold up National Guard deployments.

Protests break out as ICE raids ramp up in Chicago

Trump’s battle with Chicago has been stewing for more than a month, with the president threatening that the city would be next in line after deploying 800 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., in August.

Trump says his Chicago-area immigration crackdown, called Operation Midway Blitz, is needed to apprehend "the worst of the worst" criminal immigrants. The stepped-up enforcement has fueled a simmering powder keg, heightening tensions in the city and spurring ongoing protests, especially at the ICE processing center in the suburb of Broadview, where several protesters were arrested last weekend.

This week, groups of nonprofits, unions, journalists and protesters filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration saying federal agents responded to demonstrations "with a pattern of extreme brutality in a concerted and ongoing effort to silence the press and civilians." Among the plaintiffs is a pastor who said federal agents shot him with pepper balls and sprayed him in the face with tear gas.

Protests swelled in recent weeks as ICE has launched highly visible and aggressive raids across Chicago. On Sept. 30, immigration agents descending from Black Hawk helicopters stormed and wrecked a South Side apartment building in search of Venezuelan gang members. Two of the 37 people subsequently arrested were "confirmed" members of the Tren de Aragua gang, the Department of Homeland Security said.

On Oct. 4, a woman was shot by a U.S. Border Patrol in a clash between protesters and immigration officers on Chicago’s Southwest side, while according to the Chicago Sun-Times, masked federal agents unleashed a chemical irritant outside a Logan Square neighborhood grocery store where protesters had blocked their progress.

'This is about consolidating power,' governor says

Pritzker has said the state "won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator" and called the activation of National Guard troops a "manufactured performance."

"I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois," he said on Oct. 4, posting on X that the War Department had given him an ultimatum: "Call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will."

According to immigration authorities, more than 800 "illegal aliens including worst of the worst criminals" have been detained since the blitz began.

But Illinois leaders fear Trump is using conflict between federal agents and anti-immigration enforcement protesters to justify troop deployment and to ultimately take control of the heavily Democratic stronghold.

"This is not about fighting crime, this is about sowing fear and intimidation among Americans," Pritzker said last month. "This is about consolidating power in Donald Trump's hands."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has included Chicago among blue cities and states whose federal funds are being withheld during the ongoing government shutdown. Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said that $2.1 billion in promised federal funds for Chicago's transit system have been paused.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump threatens jail for Chicago mayor, Illinois gov. amid ICE, National Guard tension

Reporting by Christopher Cann and Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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