President Donald Trump's administration has deployed National Guard troops to Chicago against the wishes of local leaders, while a federal judge temporarily blocked a similar deployment in Portland, highlighting a significant escalation in the domestic use of military forces and setting up a major legal and political confrontation.
On Saturday, October 4, the Trump administration authorized the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago . The White House stated the move was necessary due to "ongoing violent riots and lawlessness" that local leaders had failed to quell, and to protect federal officers and assets .
However, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker described the deployment as an "ultimatum," stating that the Trump administration's Department of War told him to "call up your troops, or we will" . He condemned the action as "outrageous and un-American," arguing that there is no need for military troops in Illinois and that the administration's goal is to create a "war zone" to justify sending more forces . The decision came on the same day that U.S. Border Patrol agents shot an armed woman during a confrontation with protesters in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood .
On the same weekend, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump's effort to deploy 200 National Guard troops to Portland . U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, ruled that the President had acted "absent constitutional authority" .
In her ruling, Judge Immergut found that protests in Portland "did not pose a 'danger of a rebellion'" and that the incidents cited by the Trump administration were "nowhere near the type of incidents that cannot be handled by regular law enforcement forces" . She warned that the administration's arguments "risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power—to the detriment of this nation" . Following this block, the Trump administration ordered 300 California National Guard members to Oregon instead, a move that California Governor Gavin Newsom called a "breathtaking abuse of power" and vowed to challenge in court .
The deployments are connected to the Trump administration's intensified immigration enforcement, particularly "Operation Midway Blitz" in Chicago . This operation has led to the arrest of over 1,000 individuals, with DHS stating it targets "the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens," including gang members and violent offenders . The operation has sparked repeated protests, with activists and local officials accusing federal agents of heavy-handed tactics, including the use of chemical munitions and rubber bullets against demonstrators .
Tensions escalated significantly after a September 12 incident in which an ICE officer shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a Mexican immigrant, during a traffic stop in Franklin Park . While DHS stated the officer was dragged by the vehicle and "feared for his life," bodycam footage from responding local police showed the injured agent describing his wounds as "nothing major".