Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What's next on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials reportedly stated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were reduced 31% to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
