Ex-President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the detainment of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, accusing them of not safeguarding ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
Both officials are members of the Democratic faction.
Trump's statements coincide with the deployment of National Guard personnel in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite vehement protests from state officials including the governor and mayor.
"This represents yet another attempt where Trump attempted to have an African American leader wrongfully arrested," Mayor Johnson stated on that day. "I'm not going put."
The governor responded via online channels, stating: "I refuse to back down. Now Trump is demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the path to full-blown autocracy?"
As of midweek, National Guard troops from the Lone Star State had reached the Elwood army reserve center, an army base approximately 50 miles from the city, as the federal government advances with its hardline crime strategy and immigration enforcement operations.
Trump has labeled Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though police data indicate significant drops in most criminal activities, including murders.
On Wednesday, 200 state guard troops were expected to deploy to the Chicago area, with an additional three hundred state military personnel readying for deployment, according to reports. Authorities indicated the soldiers would avoid police functions but would protect ICE officers and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with Texas national guard patches were spotted at the military facility in the town. Trucks labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off 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 army reserve center for security reasons until early December.
Federal authorities has escalated deportation operations in the city in the past month, sparking protests, particularly near an immigration center in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the federal government, attempting to halt the National Guard deployment, urging a federal judge to stop what they call "Trump's long-declared 'War'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
A court hearing on their lawsuit is set for Thursday.
The mayor also issued an executive order on that day banning ICE officers and others from using municipal facilities as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has charged the president of using troops as "political props" and "chess pieces".
At a news conference on the previous day, Pritzker said that the president is attempting to "justify and make acceptable the deployment of military personnel under his personal authority."
The historic Posse Comitatus Act limits the army's involvement in enforcing domestic laws. Yet, the president has said he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which allows a president to dispatch active duty military in states that are unable to put down an insurrection or are resisting national authority.
After beginning his new administration, the president has sent or discussed sending military units to at least 10 cities, including major metropolitan areas and West Coast locations like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, arguing that the military presence is essential to combat crime and protect immigration agents.
Statistics indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in the past few years. In Chicago, for example, murders were reduced 31% to under three hundred through late summer, per law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday found that the majority of US citizens disapprove of the sending of troops without an foreign danger.