By: Ashmar Mandou
As anticipation continues to build in the arrival of the National Guard and ICE agents in Chicago, several elected officials are ready to fight. “None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer. For Trump, it’s about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up his corruption,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We are ready to fight troop deployments in court and we will do everything possible to ensure that agents operating inside the confines of this state do so in a legal and ethical manner.”
During a press conference on Tuesday, Governor Pritzker emphasized four key pieces of information; Trump is currently positioning armed federal agents on federal property in the Chicago region; Trump will send unidentified agents in unmarked vehicles to raid Latino communities, similar to what occurred in Los Angeles; Trump will deploy the National Guard and/or active-duty military into the city, and will fabricate any occurrence as rationale to do so; and finally, after a month or so, Trump will pick up and send the military to the next blue state – despite cities in red states having higher rates of violent crime.
Gov. Pritzker along with several community organizations are urging residents to know their rights. For more information, visit illinoisimmigrationinfo.org, a comprehensive information hub designed to empower immigrants with reliable immigration-related information and guidance. Other local officials are sharing their thoughts as the City of Chicago awaits the National Guard troops. “We don’t need the guard in Chicago or any of these cities. What we need is to restore policies that actually prove to reduce violence across the country. What we need is healthcare, what we need is education, what we need is infrastructure,” said U.S. Representative Delia Ramirez.
“Over the last three years, Cook County alone has invested over $110 million in Community Violence Intervention and other evidence-backed violence prevention strategies and will soon launch a new capacity building network to provide tailored training and technical assistance that strengthens organizations, maximizing their impact in communities,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
“It comes as no surprise Donald Trump is once again attacking Chicago, but that doesn’t change that Trump’s continuing pattern of politicizing and misusing our nation’s military for his own partisan gain and to crush dissent is deeply disturbing, is un-American and has no place in any of our cities,” said U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL).
During a press conference on Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump suggested he plans to send National Guard troops, but not of the time. “We’re going in. I didn’t say when, we’re going in,” Mr. Trump said in an Oval Office event, after a reporter asked if he plans to send the Guard to Chicago.” The press conference comes after at least 58 people have been shot, eight fatally, across Chicago over Labor Day weekend.
Photo Caption 1) Gov. Pritzker stands alongside business, education, religious, and community leaders to emphasize that there is no emergency in Chicago warranting a National Guard deployment at a press conference on the River Front. (Office of the Governor)
Photo Caption 2) Gov. Pritzker talks to reporters on a Chicago River water taxi. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
