Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Windy City area following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in regions that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
