Governor Criticizes Trump's Military 'Ultimatum' as 'Un-American'

Share and Follow

The Trump administration plans to federalise 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, Democratic Governor JB Pritzker said overnight.

Pritzker said the guard received word from the Pentagon in the morning that the troops would be called up. He did not specify when or where they would be deployed, but US President Donald Trump has long threatened to send troops to Chicago.

“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said in a statement.

Federal agents walk into the street as people protest outside a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon. (AP)

“It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.”

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for additional details.

The escalation of federal law enforcement in Illinois follows similar deployments in other parts of the country, including in Baltimore and Memphis. Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer and as part of his law enforcement takeover in Washington, DC.

Pritzker called Trump’s move in Illinois a “manufactured performance” that would pull the state’s National Guard troops away from their families and regular jobs.

“For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control,” said the governor, who also noted that state, county and local law enforcement have been coordinating to ensure the safety of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Broadview facility on the outskirts of Chicago.

Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people protesting on Friday near the facility, which has been frequently targeted during the administration’s surge of immigration enforcement this fall.

US President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump also said last month that he was sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, characterising the city as war-ravaged.

But local officials have suggested that many of his claims and social media posts appear to rely on images from 2020, when demonstrations and unrest gripped the city following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

City and state officials sued to stop the deployment the next day. US District Court Judge Karin J Immergut heard arguments on Friday, and a ruling is expected over the weekend.

Trump has federalised 200 National Guard troops in Oregon, but so far it does not appear that they have moved into Portland. They have been seen training on the coast in anticipation of a deployment.