Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, military troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government pushes forward 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 many offenses, such as homicides.
That day, 200 state guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would not perform police functions 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 the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll published on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an external threat.
