Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to send regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
