After weeks of threats from President Donald Trump to deploy military troops into Illinois over the vehement objections of Gov. JB Pritzker and other Democratic leaders, Texas National Guard members arrived early Tuesday at a southwest suburban military training site ahead of an operation to protect federal immigration agents and facilities.
Local government officials confirmed the Texas National Guard’s arrival and said communication channels had been opened between their offices and the Guard. Sun-Times journalists saw troops moving between mobile barracks staged at the U.S. Army Reserve Training Center in Elwood, about 50 miles outside Chicago.
Pritzker told the Sun-Times the Texas Guard members were using the federal Joliet-area facility because he has not allowed them to use state facilities. Pritzker has repeatedly said he has received no communications from the Trump administration about deployment.
“Remember, they’re arriving, thinking that they’re going to have to spend weeks here,” said Pritzker, who has called the deployment an “invasion.”
“They’ve got to have a bunk and a place to unpack and such,” the governor said. “They are not on the streets of Elwood.”
The troops showed up a day after a federal judge rejected a request from Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to immediately bar the deployment. A hearing on the temporary restraining order sought by Illinois leaders was scheduled for Thursday.
During a White House briefing, Trump said he was still considering invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops, a move that could bypass the court fight waged by Pritzker and Raoul.
“Chicago’s a great city where there’s a lot of crime, and if the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do the job,” Trump said, calling Johnson “grossly incompetent.”
‘I pray for Donald Trump… He’s lost’
At an unrelated press conference, Johnson said he has had no communication with the Trump administration or the National Guard. But if members of the National Guard or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents violate his latest executive order prohibiting them from using city property as staging grounds for ICE raids, they should be “charged with a crime because it is a crime,” Johnson said.
“Isn’t that the basic rule of what they ostensibly refer to as law and order? How do you expect people to respect your ability to carry out law and order if you don’t follow it yourself?” the mayor said.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said this week he’s been in touch with federal law enforcement agencies to strengthen communications after Saturday’s mayhem in Brighton Park that saw some federal agents claim that they were left to fend for themselves.
But Johnson argued that Chicago police officers are “clear about what we’re supposed to do” and CPD protocols are not the problem.
The mayor went on to unleash one of his most personal attacks yet on Trump.
“These are unprecedented times. You’re talking about an individual who incited an insurrection and his fixation on disrupting this democracy is, it’s so outrageous,” the mayor said. “Donald Trump — he’s a brittle man. Incredibly fragile. And that weakness [and] insecurity has created a great deal of rage.
“I pray for Donald Trump, his soul. He’s lost,” Johnson added. “That’s why it’s important that we help find a way to protect our democracy and our humanity.”
Local opposition
It’s not clear when Guard members could show up on the streets of Chicago or Broadview, where protests outside a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement facility have sometimes flared into violence — often escalated by federal agents.
The state lawmakers whose districts are now hosting troops derided the deployments.
“My district is about 40% Latino, and there’s a lot of fear there,” said state Rep. Larry Walsh Jr., D-Elwood. “This is not the America I know.”
“Armed troops on any street in America should be a crimson flag for any and every patriot,” he added. “We should all be asking how exactly we have strayed so far from our ideals.”
State Sen. Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, called it “not only shameful and unnecessary — it’s a blatant abuse of power.”
“Military personnel have a unique skill set that is not meant to enforce civil immigration law nor police communities,” Ventura said in a statement. “It’s vital the courts remain fair and focused, doing what is right by the people of our great state. I urge everyone in our community to remain calm and resist this effort in a peaceful manner.”
Will County resident Erin Gallagher, 53, stood outside the facility in Elwood with a sign that said “Texas go home stay out of Illinois.” She said military troops had “no business” using cities in Illinois for “target practice.”
“We need to protect our neighbors. We need to protect immigrants,” she said. “What’s happening to people with brown skin is absolutely flat wrong.”
Durbin grills Bondi
Meanwhile in Washington, Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, grilled U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Trump administration’s deployments among other policy swings “to protect President Trump and his allies and attack his opponents, and sadly, the American people.”
“These deployments basically target Democratic-run cities and Democratic leaders, ignoring many Republican-led areas of our country with even higher crime rates, and making clear that this is for political theater, not public safety,” Durbin said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. He slammed Trump’s suggestion last week that large cities could serve as military “training grounds.”
“Chicago is not the enemy. Our fellow Americans are not the enemy. It is abhorrent for the president who is supposed to represent all Americans, regardless of political party, to describe anyone who disagrees with him in this manner,” Durbin said.
Bondi stuck to White House claims that the deployments are intended to tamp down crime, which in reality has fallen in Chicago and other major cities over the past few years.
“I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump,” Bondi told Durbin. “And currently, the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.”
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth — a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel — said she had spoken with Illinois National Guard leadership. She called the move unconstitutional and an abuse of the military.
“This isn’t about those troops,” Duckworth said. “This is about President Trump using our troops and abusing the men and women who wear the uniform of this great nation for his own political gain.”
She advised Guard members to execute their orders, and not put themselves in a situation “where they can be court martialed.” Duckworth also said it’s also important for protesters to have sympathy for the guard members.
“Don’t take out your frustrations on the military men and women who have been put there, often without their consent,” Duckworth said. “They could be jailed if they don’t carry out these orders.”