Ex-President Donald J. Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader should be jailed for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump wrote on his platform early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
These remarks coincide with the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago region under orders from the current government, despite vehement protests from Illinois authorities including Pritzker and Johnson.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have a Black man wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I am staying anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is demanding arrests of elected officials resisting his authority. What remains on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from the city, as the administration pushes forward with its aggressive urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in many offenses, such as murders.
On Wednesday, 200 Texas National Guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military forces readying for deployment, per reports. Authorities reportedly stated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard insignia were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Vehicles marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off sanitation facilities and other supplies. Trailers were arranged in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the army reserve center for safety concerns until 6 December.
Federal authorities has escalated immigration enforcement in the city in the past month, sparking protests, especially near an processing facility in Broadview.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit targeting the federal government, seeking to block the military dispatch, urging a court to stop what they call "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, calling it "illegal and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for the next day.
The mayor also signed an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused the president of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on Tuesday, he said that Trump is attempting to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his direct command."
The nearly 150-year-old Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military's role in enforcing domestic laws. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows a commander-in-chief to send active duty military in regions that are unable to suppress an insurrection or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his new administration, the president has dispatched or discussed deploying troops to at least 10 urban centers, such as major metropolitan areas and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the armed forces is necessary to fight violence and protect immigration agents.
Statistics shows that most violent crime nationwide has declined in the past few years. In the city, for example, homicides were down nearly one-third to 278 through August, per police data.
New survey data released on that day found that the majority of US citizens oppose the sending of military forces without an foreign danger.
