Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
