Former President Donald Trump on midweek demanded the incarceration of Mayor Brandon Johnson and Governor JB Pritzker, alleging them of failing to protect ICE agents.
"The city's leader belongs behind bars for endangering ICE Officers!" Trump posted on social media early Wednesday. "Governor Pritzker as well!"
The two leaders are members of the Democratic party.
Trump's statements come alongside the deployment of state military troops in the Chicago region following directives from the federal administration, despite strong objections from state officials such as the governor and mayor.
"This represents not the first instance where Trump attempted to have an African American leader unjustly detained," Johnson responded on Wednesday. "I'm not going anywhere."
Pritzker also replied via online channels, declaring: "I refuse to back down. Trump is now demanding arrests of democratically chosen representatives resisting his authority. What's next on the road toward 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 Chicago, as the administration advances with its hardline urban crime policy and mass deportation efforts.
The president has called Chicago a "dangerous disaster zone", even though official statistics indicate significant drops in many offenses, including homicides.
That day, 200 Texas National Guard members were expected to deploy to the region, with another 300 Illinois guard personnel readying for deployment, according to sources. Officials indicated the soldiers would avoid law enforcement duties but would protect federal immigration agents and government buildings.
Military personnel wearing uniforms with state guard patches were spotted at the US army reserve center in Elwood. Vehicles labeled "Emergency Disaster Services" dropped off portable toilets and essential items. Mobile units were arranged in lines. Extra barriers was installed around the compound.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered flight restrictions over the military base for security reasons until early December.
The administration has intensified deportation operations in Chicago in recent weeks, triggering demonstrations, especially near an processing facility in a Chicago suburb.
Earlier this week, Illinois and Chicago initiated legal action against the administration, seeking to block the military dispatch, asking a federal judge to stop what they describe as "the president's proclaimed 'Battle'" on the city and state, labeling it "unlawful and dangerous".
Legal proceedings on their case is set for the next day.
Mayor Johnson also issued an directive on that day prohibiting federal immigration agents and related personnel from using city-owned property as staging areas for deportation efforts.
Pritzker has accused Trump of using military forces as "political props" and "pawns".
During a press briefing on the previous day, he said that the president is trying to "justify and normalize the presence of armed soldiers under his personal authority."
The nearly 150-year-old federal law limits the army's involvement in civilian law enforcement. However, the president has stated he would be prepared to invoke the emergency powers, which permits a president to send active duty military in states that are unable to put down an uprising or are resisting federal law.
Since starting his second term, Trump has sent or mentioned sending military units to at least 10 cities, including Baltimore; Washington DC; New Orleans and West Coast locations like Bay Area and Southern California municipalities, arguing that the armed forces is essential to combat crime and defend ICE officers.
Data indicates that most violent crime across the US has decreased in recent years. In Chicago, for example, homicides were reduced nearly one-third to under three hundred through August, according to law enforcement reports.
A recent poll released on Wednesday revealed that most Americans disapprove of the sending of military forces without an external threat.
