Ex-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.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated 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 military facility in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data released on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
