Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed sending troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
