Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his second term, Trump has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
