'None of this is about fighting crime': Illinois responds to Trump's troop plans
Gov. JB Pritzker warned Chicagoans to expect aggressive immigration raids and other troops in fatigues in the city. The governor asked residents to protest peacefully.
Michael LoriaCHICAGO – Local and state leaders are quickly responding on Sep. 2 to President Donald Trump’s declaration that he will send the National Guard to Chicago after the city had a violent Labor Day weekend, warning residents that there will be immigration raids and troop stagings similar to those in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
"None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer, for Trump it’s about testing his power," said Gov. JB Pritzker at a news conference called almost immediately after the president made the declaration in the Oval Office. "I can't pretend Trump isn't tearing this country apart for his own greed."
The president announced he would send the National Guard to the city after at least eight people were killed and 50 people were injured in shootings across the city over the weekend, according Chicago Police Department data. Trump referenced the deadly holiday weekend, calling Chicago "the worst and most dangerous city in the World, by far," in a post on Truth Social.
Local leaders have acknowledged the city has a crime problem but have also insisted that crime is down significantly, according to Chicago Police Department data. There is no emergency in the city, Pritzker and other leaders declared.
"This president doesn't care about gun violence, he just wants his own secret police force whenever he needs another distraction from his failures," said Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Pritzker said that Chicagoans should expect what residents of Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., have experienced during National Guard deployments, including aggressive immigration enforcement raids and military checkpoints.
Immigration enforcement agents have already begun arriving at a naval base of the city that will be used as a staging ground for federal operations, Pritzker said.
The governor and others urged residents to protest peacefully in response to Trump’s promised deployment:
"Authoritarians thrive on your silence, be loud for America."