Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard units from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 50 miles 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 official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were set up in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also signed an directive on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has charged the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send regular army in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, homicides were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.
