Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, 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 full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
