Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
