Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, per sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten cities, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, murders were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
