Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding vehement protests from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I will not back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in many offenses, including homicides.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on Chicago and Illinois, labeling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed sending troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
