Former President Donald 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 ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought 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 yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
