Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up 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.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
