Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per reports. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "rationalize and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
