Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker too!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Windy City area under orders from the current government, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going put."
Pritzker also replied via social platforms, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"
As of midweek, military units 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 pushes forward with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate notable reductions in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred state guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the region, with an additional three hundred Illinois guard forces preparing to mobilize, per reports. Authorities indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would secure ICE officers and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard insignia were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Trucks labeled "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and essential items. Trailers were set up in lines. Additional fencing was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities imposed no-fly zones over the military base for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified deportation operations in the city in the past month, triggering protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, state and city filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, attempting to halt the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their lawsuit is scheduled for the next day.
The mayor also signed an executive order on that day prohibiting ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as operation bases for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "rationalize and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has said he would be prepared to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are defying federal law.
After beginning his new administration, Trump has sent or discussed sending military units to over ten cities, such as major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics indicates that serious offenses across the US has decreased in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, per police data.
A recent poll published on that day revealed that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of military forces without an external threat.
