Former 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 belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or discussed deploying military units to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, per 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 foreign danger.
