The Pentagon plans to deploy the U.S. military to Chicago as President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, The Washington Post reported Saturday, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The planning, in the works for weeks, involves several options, including mobilizing at least a few thousand members of the National Guard as soon as September, the Post reported.
Chicago is among 19 states targeted for the deployment of an estimated 1,700 National Guard to aid in immigration enforcement and crime fighting in Democrat-run cities in 19 states throughout the U.S., the Daily Mail reported.
The forces will be used to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, according to the report. The deployments are scheduled to begin in August and run through at least mid-November, with Texas expected to host the largest presence.
The states include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. Troops will handle support roles such as case management, transportation, logistics, and clerical work, while also helping deter crime.
“The State of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention,” Illinois Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker wrote in a statement in response to the reports.
“The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority. 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.
“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.
“We will continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect the people of Illinois.”
The possibility of using active-duty forces has also been raised but is considered less likely, officials said told the Post.
“Chicago’s a mess,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday, singling out Chicago as his next target after Washington, D.C. “You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”
Chicago Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson denounced the plan, too, warning any troop deployment would be “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.”
“We have grave concerns about the impact of any unlawful deployment of National Guard troops to the City of Chicago,” Johnson, whose city is among the most violent in the U.S., if not the world, told the Post.
The Pentagon declined to discuss specifics.
“The department is a planning organization and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel,” it told the Post in a statement.
The White House has tied the potential deployment to a broader effort to expand Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and ramp up deportations, including a directive to reach 3,000 arrests a day.
If carried out, Chicago would become the third major U.S. city to see large-scale military involvement during Trump’s second term, underscoring his willingness to override local opposition in the name of restoring “law and order.”
Information from Reuters was used to compile this report.
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