Over the weekend, state and city officials condemned President Donald Trump's plan to deploy thousands of National Guard troops in Chicago next month as part of his monthslong campaign against immigration, homelessness and crime.
Gov. JB Pritzker said Saturday the federal government has not reached out to see if the state needs assistance, and state officials have not requested federal help.
"There is no emergency that warrants the president of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states or sending active-duty military within our own borders,” Pritzker said. "Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he is causing working families."
On Friday, Trump said he was considering federal intervention in Chicago after deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C. Nearly 2,000 troops were sent to the capitol to address what the Trump administration has described as a surge in violence — despite D.C. officials reporting a decline in crime.
Citing officials familiar with the matter, The Washington Post reported Saturday the Pentagon has been planning a military intervention in Chicago for weeks.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul denounced the threat from Trump.
“It’s disingenuous and performative. If there were sincere concerns about crime, there wouldn’t be disinvestment in community violence funding and funding for victims of crime,” Raoul told the Sun-Times Sunday.
Federal troops are normally only deployed in a state because of a major disruption or disaster, and it's typically a collaborative decision between the president and the governor, Raoul said. Sending in National Guard troops would undermine Chicago and Illinois law enforcement and the state's existing partnerships with federal agencies like the FBI and the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he added.
If troops are sent to Chicago, Raoul wouldn't share any specific legal actions he would take, but he said the state will have options. He pointed out that the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act limits the use of federal military forces for civilian law enforcement purposes unless expressly authorized by law.
"It's unclear what exactly is the National Guard going to be doing. I can’t respond to what legal action we would take, but we are certainly ready," Raoul said.
After Trump deployed California National Guard troops in Los Angeles amid mass protests in the city, California sued in response. The lawsuit remains pending.
When asked Sunday to confirm that troops would be sent to Chicago, a Pentagon spokesperson said: "We won’t speculate on further operations."
"The Department is a planning organization and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, in a statement Sunday, said he is working closely with county and state officials to prepare for "any potential unconstitutional military deployments to Chicago."
“The Governor, the Cook County Board President, and I are in complete alignment: Chicago is not calling for a military occupation of our city. We are currently evaluating all of our legal options to protect the people of Chicago from unconstitutional federal overreach," Johnson said.
In response to a request for comment, a White House spokesperson pointed to Trump's comments Friday when he said: “Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we will straighten that one out next.”
Johnson said Friday deploying troops would “undermine” the city’s progress in reducing crime.
The number of killings in Chicago, as in many other major U.S. cities, has dropped significantly since rising during the pandemic. The number of homicides in a year is down about 50% this year, from about 500 to around 250, since 2021, according to Chicago police data.
The number of reported shootings in Chicago has dropped by about 57% in the last four years.
