Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
