Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders identify as the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the arrival of state military personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate notable reductions in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the military facility in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Trailers were set up in rows. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed flight restrictions over the army reserve center for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, sparking demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, 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 "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The historic federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which allows a president to send active duty military in regions that are failing to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or mentioned deploying military units to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
