Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
