Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the administration 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, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel preparing to mobilize, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send regular army in regions that are unable to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through August, according to police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an external threat.
