Hundreds of National Guard troops from Texas have arrived at an Army training center outside Chicago to support US President Donald Trump’s escalating immigration crackdown a move that has triggered strong opposition from Illinois officials and renewed constitutional debates over federal authority.
Government sources confirmed that some of the troops could begin their assignments as early as Wednesday. Temporary living trailers have been set up at the Army Reserve Training Center, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago, with fencing erected around the facility late Tuesday night.
The deployment follows weeks of rising tension between the White House and Democratic-controlled states over immigration enforcement.
Chicago, in particular, has seen heightened protests outside US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, prompting Trump to label the city a “war zone” and to justify sending reinforcements to “quell violence and protect federal property.”
In an interview, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker condemned the deployment, describing it as an “authoritarian march” by the Trump administration. “We will use every lever at our disposal to stop this power grab,” he vowed, warning that the federal government was overstepping its constitutional limits.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson echoed that sentiment, calling the move “illegal, unconstitutional, and dangerous.” He accused the administration of undermining state sovereignty by “literally handpicking National Guard people from another state, the state of Texas, and then sending them to the state of Illinois.”
The legal battle has already reached the courts. Illinois and the city of Chicago have jointly filed a lawsuit seeking to block the federalisation of National Guard troops from Texas, arguing that the deployment violates state control provisions. A federal judge has temporarily allowed the Chicago operation to proceed, though similar deployments to Portland were blocked last week.
The controversy deepened after an incident last weekend in which US Border Patrol personnel reportedly shot and injured a woman following an altercation near immigration enforcement vehicles. The woman’s lawyer has disputed parts of the government’s account, further fueling public outrage and anti-deportation protests across the city.
National Guard troops, while symbolically significant, have limited legal authority. They are not permitted to conduct arrests, searches, or seizures. Their primary role is to support and protect federal personnel and infrastructure. Nonetheless, the political optics of deploying military-linked forces to domestic cities have sparked comparisons to martial law scenarios.
President Trump has hinted he may invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, an extraordinary measure that would permit the use of active-duty military for domestic law enforcement.
Asked about the possibility during a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump said, “If the governor can’t do the job, we’ll do the job.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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