๐ง๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ด๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐.
Despite strong opposition from local officials, National Guard troops from Texas have arrived in the US state of Illinois, ahead of a planned deployment to Chicago.
The latest escalation by Donald Trump of the United States of America in his crackdown effort on Chicago is the arrival of the troops on Tuesday.ย
Trump shunned the active legal challenges from Chicago and the state of Illinois, which are currently ongoing in the courts, clamping down on the countryโs largest city.
The Guardโs exact mission was not immediately clear. However, the Trump administration has an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, and protesters have frequently rallied at an immigration building outside the city in Broadview, Illinois.
The president repeatedly has described Chicago in hostile terms, calling it a โhellholeโ of crime, although police statistics show significant drops in most crimes, including homicides.
โIf you look at Chicago, Chicago is a great city where thereโs a lot of crime, and if the governor canโt do the job, weโll do the job,โ Trump said on Tuesday of his decision to send the National Guard to the city against the wishes of state leadership. โItโs all straightforward.โ
There were likely โ50 murders in Chicago over the last 5, 6, 7 monthsโ, the president has claimed โ although, according to government data, Chicago saw a 33 per cent reduction in homicides in the first six months of 2025 and a 38 per cent reduction in shootings.
Trump has also ordered Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, following earlier deployments to Los Angeles and Washington, DC. In each case, he has done so despite staunch opposition from mayors and governors from the Democratic Party, who say Trumpโs claims of lawlessness and violence do not reflect reality.
A federal judge in September said the Republican-led administration โwillfullyโ broke federal law by putting Guard troops in Los Angeles over protests about immigration raids.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the presidentโs strategy is โunconstitutional, itโs illegal, and itโs dangerousโ.
Illinois and Chicago sued the Trump administration on Monday, seeking to block orders to federalise 300 Illinois Guard troops and send Texas Guard troops to Chicago. During a hearing, US Justice Department lawyers informed a federal judge that Texas Guard troops were already en route to Illinois.
The judge, April Perry, permitted the deployment to proceed for now, but ordered the US government to file a response by Wednesday.
Separately, a federal judge in Oregon on Sunday temporarily blocked the administration from sending any troops to police Portland, the stateโs largest city.
The Trump administration has portrayed the cities as war-ravaged and lawless amid its escalation in immigration enforcement.
โThese Democrats are, like, insurrectionists, OK?โ the president said Tuesday. โTheyโre so bad for our country. Their policy is so bad for our country.โ
Officials in Illinois and Oregon, however, say military intervention isnโt needed and that federal involvement is inflaming the situation.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, accused Trump of intentionally trying to foment violence, which the president could then use to justify further militarisation.
โDonald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarise our nationโs cities,โ Pritzker said on Monday.
โThere is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security,โ Democratic Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has said.
What is the Insurrection Act, and can Trump Invoke it?
When speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump made it clear that heโs considering invoking the Insurrection Act to clear the way for him to send soldiers to US cities.
โWe have an Insurrection Act for a reason. If I had to enact it, Iโd do that,โ Trump said on Monday.
The federal law dates back to 1807 and gives the US president the power to deploy the military or federalise National Guard troops anywhere in the US to restore order during an insurrection.
Constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein told Al Jazeera that presidential powers under the act apply only in cases of major rebellion, equivalent to the US Civil War, where normal law enforcement and courts canโt function.
However, Fein added that it is unclear whether a presidentโs declaration of insurrection can be challenged in court.
โCongress, however, could impeach and remove Trump for misuse of the act in Portland,โ Fein said, adding that military law obligates personnel to disobey orders that are clearly unlawful.
He said Trumpโs use of the act in Portland would be โclearly illegalโ even if it cannot be challenged in court.
The Insurrection Act has been invoked in response to 30 incidents, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice.
The last time it was invoked was in 1992, in response to riots in Los Angeles by Republican President George HW Bush.