Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going 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 path to complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying military units to at least 10 urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
