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CHICAGO (WLS) — Anticipation is building for the expected surge in National Guard troops and ICE agents in Chicago. The only question now is when.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker get a first hand look Wednesday at how some violence interrupters are training in advance of the expected surge of federal immigration agents and members of the National Guard deploying to Chicago.
It comes as President Donald Trump is once against talking about sending troops to Chicago.
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One day after the President signaled it was a sure thing the National Guard was coming to Chicago, now he’s suggesting he might send them somewhere else: New Orleans.
The Sun-Times reported Wednesday that nearly 30 federal agents have already arrived at the Naval Base in North. Governor Pritzker made it clear Illinois has to be ready for whatever may follow the deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., which the President praised again Wednesday afternoon.
“We have a great thing going. I could do that with Chicago,” Trump said. “We could do that with New York. We could do it with Los Angeles. So we’re making a determination now, do we go to Chicago, or do we go to a place like New Orleans, where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in.”
Governor Pritzker says some federal agents are being relocated from immigration operations in Los Angeles while the Texas National Guard is preparing for a Chicago deployment.
While not confirmed by the White House, the governor says his office believes federal agents will assemble by Friday and begin enforcement by Saturday.
Meanwhile, in preparation for increased federal immigration enforcement, the city of Chicago has an updated website and information hub led by the Office of Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee Rights (IMRR). It will highlight services and protections for the city’s immigrant and refugee communities.
City organizations are also preparing for possible National Guard sweeps of encampments for people experiencing homelessness in Chicago.
Community groups are preparing for possible National Guard sweeps of Chicago homeless encampments.
As the president seems to waffle on whether the Guard will be deployed to Chicago or elsewhere, Governor Pritzker joined a group of nearly 80 community violence interrupters from 15 to 20 different organizations during a training exercise at the Metropolitan Peace Initiative. The training was to make sure the members of these groups were prepared for any potential interactions with ICE or the National Guard.
Illinois Democratic Congresswoman Delia Ramirez was joined by other Illinois lawmakers in Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning calling out the president’s planned actions in Chicago.
“It’s about control,” Congresswoman Ramirez said. “It’s about threatening diverse successful Democratic-led cities like Chicago that refuse to bow down to authoritarianism.
Along with Ramirez, Illinois Congressman Jesús “Chuy” GarcÃa and Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin are calling out the legality of Trump’s use of guardsmen.
“This escalation is not about public safety or about law and order,” GarcÃa said. “It’s an authoritarian power grab that has profound consequences that seeks to target and profile working class immigrant and Brown communities.”
“They are moving troops where we understand into federal facilities like Great Lakes Naval Training Station,” Durbin said. ” I’ve contacted the secretary of the Navy. I want a briefing on just what exactly is happening at that important federal facility in the Great Lakes area that serves Chicago and the region.”
Pritzker says deploying the National Guard and more immigration agents to Chicago is unnecessary.
In a statement Cook Commissioner Sean Morrison responded to Pritzker’s claims, writing in part, “Most citizens, real parents, workers, families, support the rule of law and want safe communities. This should not be controversial. Asking for calm, empathy, and operational collaboration with federal law enforcement is reasonable and responsible.”
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While Republican state Representative Martin McLaughlin says he’s questioning why people are weary of National Guard troops in the city.
“I’m trying to understand why an American in uniform standing on a street corner trying to protect other Americans is a threat to anyone,” Representative McLaughlin said. “I think it is a threat to those that have failed.”
North suburban Evanston’s Human Service Committee also just passed a resolution calling on Congress to ban federal agents from wearing masks.
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