Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "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 Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has sent or discussed deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day found that most Americans oppose the sending of troops without an external threat.
