Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send regular army 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 sending military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
