Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker 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 vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going 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 path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to over ten cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
