Former President Donald Trump on midweek called for the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"Chicago's Mayor should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the arrival of National Guard troops in the Chicago region following directives from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections 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."
The governor responded via social platforms, declaring: "I will not yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of democratically chosen representatives checking his power. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, military troops from Texas had reached the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 50 miles from Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers in combat attire with Texas national guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city initiated legal action against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'War'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also issued an directive on Monday prohibiting ICE officers and related personnel from using municipal facilities as staging areas for enforcement actions.
The governor has accused the president of using military forces as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are failing to put down an insurrection or are defying national authority.
Since starting his new administration, Trump has dispatched or discussed deploying military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, claiming that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, homicides were reduced 31% to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens oppose the deployment of troops without an external threat.
