Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and 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 wrote on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks come alongside the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding vehement protests from Illinois authorities such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Johnson responded on that day. "I am staying put."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden hellhole", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including homicides.
That day, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units 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 early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, state and city initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also signed an executive order on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for enforcement actions.
The governor has charged Trump of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data indicates that most violent crime nationwide has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to 278 through August, according to police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
