Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down 31% to 278 through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
