Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is essential to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of troops without an external threat.
