The Trump administration has been planning for weeks to send the National Guard to Chicago, two officials told CNN, as President Donald Trump looks to expand his anti-crime agenda and crackdown on immigration in major cities across the United States.
It is not yet clear how many troops would be sent to Chicago, or when those deployments would start.
Trump seemed to preview those plans in the Oval Office on Friday, saying, “I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, said Friday that the city has not heard from the White House about the deployment or any increased law enforcement presence, adding that such a move would be “uncalled for” and “unlawful.”
“There are many things the federal government could do to help us reduce crime and violence in Chicago, but sending in the military is not one of them,” Johnson said in a statement.
When asked for comment, the White House on Saturday referred CNN to Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office a day earlier. The president said Friday he hadn’t spoken to the Chicago mayor when asked by a reporter whether he had taken any “concrete steps” toward a crackdown in the city. CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment on the potential deployment of troops to Chicago, first reported by The Washington Post.
The plans align with the Trump administration’s unusual efforts to use the military for law enforcement and immigration actions within the US’ borders.
The administration’s potential moves in Chicago would be different from the law enforcement crackdown in Washington, DC, where Trump — and in turn the federal government — has more leeway in directing troops and a range of federal authorities.
Instead, the administration’s future plans, including in Chicago, are expected to look like Trump’s deployment of the National Guard earlier this summer to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests, sources told CNN.
In June, Trump evoked Title 10 of the US Code to send about 700 active-duty Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles over the objection of California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Title 10 allows the president to deploy the National Guard as necessary to repel invasion, suppress rebellion or execute laws, which means the National Guard reports to the…
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