Texas national guard troops deployed to Chicago amid Trump’s crackdown
Texas national guard troops deployed to Chicago amid Trump’s crackdown
President Donald Trump-led United States government has deployed Texas National Guard troops to the Chicago area, signalling an escalation in President’s crackdown on the city.
According to The Guardian UK, Chicago has, in recent weeks, witnessed increased immigration enforcement and growing tensions in Broadview, where police were filmed using tear gas and pepper spray against protesters.
The deployment follows a ruling by US District Judge April Perry, who declined to block troops from entering the city while a lawsuit filed by Illinois and Chicago against the Trump administration’s actions is still pending.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed the suit on Monday, seeking to stop Trump from using the state’s National Guard or bringing in troops from other states, including Texas, “immediately and permanently.”
After Perry’s ruling, the troops were mobilised, and reports from outlets including the Chicago Tribune and New York Times confirmed their continued presence in the area on Tuesday.
Chicago Mayor, Brandon Johnson, responded by signing an executive order prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from operating on city-owned properties. The order was the third of such aimed at limiting ICE’s authority since Trump announced the deployment.
“City property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids,” Johnson said during the signing. “The fact is, we cannot allow them to rampage throughout our city with no checks or balances. Nobody is above the law … if Congress will not check this administration, then Chicago will.”
The White House accused Johnson of “aiding and abetting criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, traffickers, and gang bangers,” according to Newsweek.
Illinois Governor, JB Pritzker, has also criticised Trump’s intervention.
“Any kind of troops on the streets of an American city don’t belong unless there is an insurrection, unless there is truly an emergency,” he told CBS News in September. “I’m going to do everything I can to stop him from taking away people’s rights and from using the military to invade states.”
Johnson has repeatedly opposed the intervention, vowing during a Labour Day rally: “We’re going to defend our democracy in the city of Chicago. We’re going to protect the humanity of every single person in the city of Chicago.”
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin condemned the deployment in a statement as troops arrived. “Deploying the Texas National Guard, over the objections of Illinois elected officials, is not only unnecessary, but it is also unlawful,” he said. “National Guard personnel do not deserve to be used as political pawns in President Trump’s political theatre.”
Trump’s move is part of a broader federal push targeting Democratic-led cities for tougher immigration enforcement. His previous attempts to send troops to Portland were blocked by a federal judge, while Oregon Governor Tina Kotek described such interventions as a “threat to our democracy” and a “wake-up call” for other states.
Earlier this year, Trump sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles, where ICE conducted large-scale raids, and to Washington DC in August as part of what he called an effort to restore law and order.
Trump has defended the deployments as necessary to support immigration enforcement and curb crime, though Democratic leaders argue that crime rates are already declining nationwide.
