Trump Administration Aims to Deploy 300 Illinois National Guard Members for Chicago ICE Raids: Gov. JB Pritzker

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Trump administration is looking to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement on Saturday.

Pritzker said the Department of War gave him an ultimatum, telling him to call up the troops himself.

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“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said, in part. He said the administration intends to federalize hundreds of National Guard troops “in the coming hours.”

This comes after federal agents and protesters clashed at the west suburban Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Friday morning.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said at least five people were arrested during those clashes. They are facing charges such as resisting, obstruction and aggravated battery to a police officer.

That clash came after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino were seen on the ICE facility’s roof just before 8 a.m. They were accompanied by several armed agents, cameras and a production crew.

And Friday night, with helmets and batons, a phalanx of Cook County sheriff’s officers kept demonstrators from blocking the street in a tense standoff, capping a day of protest.

President Donald Trump has previously threatened to send the National Guard to Chicago to combat crime, and even said earlier this week that the city could become a training ground for the military.

On Monday, Pritzker said he learned that DHS is requesting that 100 military personnel be sent to Illinois to protect ICE agents.

ABC7 has reached out to the Trump administration for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Full statement from Pritzker:
“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.

In the coming hours, the Trump Administration intends to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard. They will pull hardworking Americans out of their regular jobs and away from their families all to participate in a manufactured performance — not a serious effort the protect public safety. For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.

This demand follows unprecedented escalations of aggression against Illinois citizens and residents. Yesterday, Kristi Noem’s and Greg Bovino’s masked agents threw chemical agents near an elementary school, arrested elected officials exercising their First Amendment rights, and raided a Wal-Mart. None of it was in pursuit of justice, but all of it was in pursuit of social media videos.

I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois. State, county, and local law enforcement have been working together and coordinating to ensure public safety around the Broadview ICE facility, and to protect people’s ability to peacefully exercise their connotational rights. I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people.

In Illinois, we will do everything within our power to look out for our neighbors, uphold the Constitution, and defend the rule of law.”