Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with state guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
