Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday said he had received a report that federal officials are seeking to deploy troops to Illinois in support of President Donald Trump’s surge in immigration enforcement.
“Moments ago, the Illinois National Guard received word that the Department of Homeland Security has sent a memo to the Department of War seeking the deployment of 100 military troops to Illinois, claiming a need for the protection of ICE personnel and facilities,” Pritzker said at an afternoon news conference.
“What I have been warning of is now being realized,” Pritzker said. “One thing is clear: None of what Trump is doing is making Illinois safer.”
Pritzker said he did not know whether the federal government wants to deploy troops from the Illinois National Guard or some other branch of the military. “It’s unclear what troops are being requested or potentially could be sent by the Department of War,” he said, using Trump’s new name for the Department of Defense. Pritzker later added that he does not know where the troops would be sent or when they could arrive.
The Tribune obtained a copy of the memo, addressed to Col. Anthony Fuscellaro, “Executive Secretary of the US Department of Defense,” by Homeland Security Executive Secretary Andrew Whitaker. It alleges that ICE and Federal Protective Service agents “have come under coordinated assault by violent groups intent on obstructing lawful federal enforcement actions.” It claims the groups are “actively aligned with designated domestic terrorist organizations.”
The memo requests deployment of “DoW personnel, trained and equipped for mission security in complex urban environments,” adding that the troops would serve “in direct support of federal facility protection, access control, and crowd control measures.” It does not say where in the state the troops would be sent or when they would arrive.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
The memo came a day after federal immigration agents carried out a show of force in downtown Chicago. Agents gathered near many of the city’s most iconic locations — from Millennium Park to Tribune Tower, and even on a boat in the Chicago River — carrying out several arrests while wearing masks and camouflage and holding assault-style weapons.
“All of this has been aimed at causing chaos and mayhem in the hopes of creating a pretext to deploy military troops against Chicago,” Pritzker said, surrounded by the city and state’s top elected leaders.
Mayor Brandon Johnson similarly blasted Sunday’s immigration agent display as a “stunt that has nothing to do with public safety.”
He too argued that Trump’s apparent provocation was an attempt to spur conflict to create a pretext for military deployment.
“We cannot accept the militarization of our cities,” Johnson said. “We have to make sure that this is not the last time we express our unified voice, to ensure that we protect the interests of all people.”
Trump has repeatedly threatened in recent months to send the National Guard to Chicago, only to then back off. “We may wait. We may or may not. We may just go in and do it, which is probably what we should do,” Trump said in late August. “You know, I hate to barge in on a city and then be treated horribly by corrupt politicians and bad politicians like a guy like Pritzker.”
The governor on Monday said he hopes this latest move from federal officials also turns out to be a false alarm. “My hope is, the unanimity, the show of a broad swath of the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois standing against what the federal government is attempting to do here, will once again deter them from sending military troops,” he said.
Separate from the memo Pritzker referenced, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday directed the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies “to immediately direct all necessary officers and agents to defend ICE facilities and personnel whenever and wherever they come under attack, including in Portland and Chicago,” according to a memo from Bondi’s office.
“Our officers will suppress all unlawful rioting and arrest every person suspected of threatening or assaulting a federal law enforcement officer or interfering with federal law enforcement operations,” the memo said.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Trump’s deployment attempt appears to be following the same pattern as his efforts to send troops to Portland, Oregon.
Such an effort in Chicago would be illegal, he said. “If the pattern follows what we’ve seen in Oregon, he should expect a legal challenge here,” Raoul said.
Raoul added that he believes Trump is attempting to provoke Chicagoans with spectacles like the Sunday immigration agent presence downtown. “So I urge Illinoisans: Don’t take the bait. There is no emergency in Chicago. Don’t help them create one,” he said.
Raoul earlier Monday issued a statement in support of Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s lawsuit against the Trump administration in response to the takeover of the National Guard to deploy troops to Portland.
“I am firmly committed to standing with Attorney General Rayfield and my colleagues to challenge this administration’s actions that violate the sovereignty of our cities and states,” Raoul’s statement read in part.
The attorney general said that with only the DHS memo in hand, there is not yet a sufficient basis to file a lawsuit. “But suffice it to say we are prepared,” he added
The threatened lawsuit was a rare bit of direct action the leaders said they could take to deter Trump. During the hour-and-a-half press conference, they suggested there is little they can do to stop Trump’s escalating Chicago actions with their official powers, a sign of the stacked deck they face as they encounter a presidential administration attempting to smash legal precedent.
Pritzker and Johnson both called on Chicagoans to peacefully protest, share know-your-rights information and film federal authorities in action, but offered little clarity on what more they could do to get in Trump’s way.
“We have limited ability, as you probably know, to take local law enforcement and put them at odds directly with federal law enforcement,” Pritzker said. “However, we do have the ability to make sure that those protesters know what their rights are, that the people in their communities know what their rights are. Stand up, speak out, protest peacefully and show your displeasure. And in the end, and this is why everybody needs to pay attention now, you got to show up and vote.”
Asked if he would direct the Chicago Police Department to investigate alleged wrongdoing by federal forces, an effort currently being undertaken by Broadview and state police after a CBS Chicago reporter said a federal agent shot her, unprovoked, with a pepper ball, Johnson reaffirmed his call for the federal government to implement its own independent investigators.
He added that he has directed police to “protect the fundamental right to peacefully assemble,” but once again did not say what police should do if federal authorities flout the law.
“What you’re seeing today is a strong display of a united front,” he said.
Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling pledged to continue to follow the city’s laws barring police from collaborating with federal authorities on federal civil immigration enforcements actions in a statement Monday afternoon.
“Though we will not coordinate with federal authorities on immigration enforcement, we will work to have some level of communication with these federal authorities to maintain balance and prevent potential conflicts that can occur,” the statement said. “To be clear, communication does not mean collaboration.”
Chicago Tribune reporter Sam Charles contributed.
