Ex-President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "The Illinois governor too!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of state military troops in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, despite strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This marks yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, stating: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of elected officials checking his power. What remains on the road toward complete authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the federal government advances with its aggressive urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including murders.
That day, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials reportedly stated the troops would avoid law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard insignia were spotted at the military facility in Elwood. Vehicles marked "Emergency Disaster Services" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the compound.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in the past month, triggering demonstrations, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the administration, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their case is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using military forces as "political props" and "chess pieces".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Pritzker said that Trump is trying to "rationalize and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act limits the military's role in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to activate the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military 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 mentioned deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down 31% to 278 through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on Wednesday revealed that most Americans oppose the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
