Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for failing to secure ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements coincide with the arrival of National Guard troops in the Windy City area following directives from the federal administration, notwithstanding strong objections from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump has sought to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Mayor Johnson stated on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
The governor responded via online channels, declaring: "I will not back down. Trump is now calling for imprisonment of elected officials resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard units from the Lone Star State had arrived at the Elwood army reserve center, a military installation roughly 80 kilometers from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and mass deportation efforts.
Trump has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", despite police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, such as murders.
On Wednesday, two hundred Texas National Guard troops were scheduled to arrive to the Chicago area, with another 300 state military personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Officials indicated the troops would avoid police functions but would secure federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Soldiers wearing uniforms with state guard patches were observed at the US army reserve center in the town. Trucks marked "Disaster Relief" delivered sanitation facilities and other supplies. Mobile units were set up in rows. Extra barriers was placed around the perimeter.
Aviation authorities ordered no-fly zones over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified immigration enforcement in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering protests, especially near an immigration center in Broadview.
Earlier this week, state and city filed a lawsuit against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on Chicago and Illinois, calling it "illegal and risky".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an executive order on Monday banning ICE officers and others from using city-owned property as operation bases for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged Trump of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, he said that the president is attempting to "justify and normalize the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic federal law restricts the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, Trump has stated he would be willing to activate the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch regular army in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are defying federal law.
Since starting his second term, the president has sent or mentioned sending troops to over ten urban centers, such as Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and California cities like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the military presence is necessary to combat crime and defend immigration agents.
Statistics shows that serious offenses across the US has declined in the past few years. In the city, for instance, murders were down nearly one-third to 278 through late summer, according to law enforcement reports.
New survey data published on that day found that most Americans disapprove of the deployment of troops without an foreign danger.