Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, stating: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood training facility, an army base roughly 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the army reserve center for safety concerns 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, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that Trump is attempting to "rationalize and normalize the presence of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send regular army in states that are failing to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 cities, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Data indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
