Ex-President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in recent years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
