Trump's Federal crackdown continue: National Guard arrives in Chicago

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
8 Oct 2025 09:42

Texas National Guard troops arrive in Chicago, amid President Trump’s federal intervention to combat legal challenges and protests against ICE.

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Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the US Army Reserve Center, October 7, 2025, in Elwood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. (AP)

Texas National Guard troops arrived in the Chicago area, as US President Donald Trump’s federal intervention across Democratic-led cities ensues.

The deployment comes amid intense immigration enforcement operations and growing confrontations in neighborhoods such as Broadview, where law enforcement has used tear gas and pepper spray against protesters.

Court rulings allow troops to mobilize amid legal challenges

The mobilization followed a ruling by US District Judge April Perry, who declined to immediately block the arrival of troops, despite a pending lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the city of Chicago. The lawsuit seeks to permanently prevent the Trump administration from enlisting the state’s National Guard or sending in troops from other states, including Texas.

Multiple outlets, including the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times, confirmed that the troops remained in the Chicago area on Tuesday, continuing their operations in support of federal immigration enforcement.

City leadership pushes back against federal overreach

Earlier, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order barring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from operating on city-owned property, the third such order designed to limit the agency’s reach.

“City property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids,” Johnson said.

“The fact is, we cannot allow them to rampage throughout our city with no checks or balances. Nobody is above the law … if Congress will not check this administration, then Chicago will,” he asserted.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker condemned the intervention, describing any military presence on American streets as illegitimate unless there is a true insurrection.

“I’m going to do everything I can to stop him from taking away people’s rights and from using the military to invade states,” Pritzker said.

Senators and national leaders condemn Trump’s actions

US Senator Dick Durbin called the deployment “unnecessary” and “unlawful", emphasizing that National Guard personnel should not be used as political tools in the president’s campaign.

The White House has accused local leaders of “aiding and abetting criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, traffickers, and gang bangers,” framing the federal intervention as essential to law enforcement, despite data showing that overall crime levels in Chicago are generally falling.

Pattern of federal interventions

Chicago joins a series of cities targeted by the Trump administration for expanded federal enforcement. In recent months, Trump has attempted to deploy troops to Portland, but federal courts blocked his efforts. In June, National Guard troops were sent to Los Angeles, where ICE conducted large-scale raids, and in August, thousands of federal agents were deployed to Washington, DC.

Trump has defended the operations as necessary to fight crime and enforce immigration laws, while critics argue the actions represent an unprecedented militarization of law enforcement and a threat to state sovereignty and democratic norms.