Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on that day. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not yield. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation roughly 50 miles from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces readying for deployment, per sources. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Additional fencing was placed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until early December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has stated he would be willing to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are defying national authority.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned deploying troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data shows that serious offenses nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to 278 through August, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on that day revealed that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
