On Saturday Oct. 4. 300 members of the Illinois National Guard were federalized in order to protect federal agents and property from ongoing public U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) resistance. This comes after President Trump attempted to send 200 members of the national guard on Sept. 28. to Portland.
The president explained his decision on Truth Social, “At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary troops to protect War ravaged Portland.” This decision was later blocked by Judge Karin Immergut, granting a temporary restraining order on the National Guard after the state of Oregon and city of Portland filed a complaint against the Trump administration.
The Department of Defense summoned 400 members of the Texas National Guard to both Chicago and Oregon. In response, Immergut stated “I am certainly troubled by now hearing that both California and Texas are being sent to Oregon, which does appear to be in direct contradiction of my order.”
Since then, Oregon’s block on the National Guard has ended, allowing them to mobilize in the state. However, they have taken legal steps in order to prevent the Trump administration from mobilizing the Portland National Guard in cities like Illinois.
Both states have pushed back against the mobilization of the National Guard, with Chicago following Oregon in filing a complaint against the Trump administration, seeking an immediate block on the Guard’s federalization. However, Judge April Perry denied the request, instead giving the administration until midnight on Wednesday, Oct. 8, to respond.
In order to federalize the National Guard, there must be particular legal circumstances to do so as President Trump points to the 1807 Insurrection Act to support his legal claim, in which both states refute the administration’s reasoning. The Trump administration remains firm in their decision. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, said in an interview that the president, “will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities and we expect to be vindicated by the Court.”
Chicago Gov. Jay Robert “JB” Pritzker said in a post on X, “We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion.” The president in a later press briefing compares the crime in Chicago to crime in Afghanistan in response to Pritzker statements and the Chicago lawsuit saying, “You can go to places like Afghanistan and they probably marvel at how much crime we have.” The Chicago governor has repeatedly denied the alleged rise in crime, pointing to statistics done by the Chicago Police Department where they found a 25 percent decrease on murder.
In the earlier stages of this conflict Pritzker called on Texas Gov. Gregg Abott in a statement, asking him to pull his support from the administration’s decision. Abbott responded in a post on X, “I fully authorized the president to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officials.” Despite all the push back, the Federal Guard will be mobilized in both Illinois and Portland for the next 60 days.
