Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite vehement protests from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send regular army in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
