Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek called for the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding federal immigration officers.
"The city's leader should be jailed for endangering Immigration agents!" Trump wrote on social media Wednesday morning. "The Illinois governor as well!"
Both officials identify as the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region under orders from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials such as Pritzker and Johnson.
"This marks not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to yield. Now Trump is calling for imprisonment of elected officials checking his power. What's next on the road toward full-blown authoritarianism?"
By Wednesday morning, National Guard troops from Texas had arrived at the Elwood training facility, a military installation approximately 80 kilometers from Chicago, as the federal government pushes forward with its aggressive crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite official statistics indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard members were scheduled to arrive to the region, with another 300 state military forces preparing to mobilize, according to sources. Officials indicated the troops would not perform law enforcement duties but would protect ICE officers and their facilities.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were observed at the military facility in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" dropped off portable toilets and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was installed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until 6 December.
Federal authorities has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, particularly near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
On Monday, Illinois and Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government, seeking to block the National Guard deployment, asking a court to stop what they describe as "Trump's long-declared 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for Thursday.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning federal immigration agents and others from using city-owned property as staging areas for enforcement actions.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "staged tools" and "pawns".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, Trump has said he would be willing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which permits a commander-in-chief to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to suppress an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has dispatched or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, claiming that the military presence is necessary to fight violence and protect ICE officers.
Statistics shows that most violent crime across the US has declined in recent years. In Chicago, for instance, murders were down 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll published on Wednesday found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.
