Former President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic party.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have a Black man unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military units from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base roughly 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has labeled Chicago a "crime-ridden disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
That day, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
The administration has escalated deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action targeting the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as operation bases for deportation efforts.
The governor has accused Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that the president is trying to "rationalize and make acceptable the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has said he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his second term, the president has sent or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Data shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in recent years. In the city, for instance, murders were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through late summer, according to police data.
New survey data released on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
