Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration 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 posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 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 disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military forces readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify 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. However, the president has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending military units to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of military forces without an foreign danger.
