Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
