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Pentagon has for weeks been planning a military deployment in Chicago as part of Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime and illegal immigrants, according to a report.
Chicago military deployment: Trump plans crackdown on crime in city (Reuters Image)
US President Donald Trump has set his eye on a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration in Chicago, Illinois, after the federal takeover in Washington DC, according to a report.
The Pentagon is working on a plan to deploy military personnel in Chicago for some weeks, The Washington Post reported.
“A few thousand members of the National Guard” may be deployed in the city as part of the crackdown on crime, illegal immigration, and homelessness.
Trump’s Crackdown Plans For Chicago
Trump had on Friday highlighted his ongoing National Guard deployment in Washington, DC, where over 2,200 troops have been sent as part of what he calls a long-overdue push to reduce crime, and said that Chicago and New York would be the next major cities in the United States that are the targets of the federal crackdown on crime.
“We are going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent. And we will straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough. Then we will help with New York,” he said.
Officials who were familiar with the matter said that a military deployment in the city “has long been in planning” and is linked to increased ICE activities to find undocumented migrants in the city as they seek to follow a directive from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to make at least 3,000 arrests per day, The Washington Post reported.
Trump’s Plans Meet Criticism From Governor
Mayors and state governors have criticised Trump’s remarks to take over cities. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker accused the President of trying to “destabilise” ongoing public safety efforts, claiming power abuse.
“After using Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. as his testing ground for authoritarian overreach, Trump is now openly flirting with the idea of taking over other states and cities. Trump’s goal is to incite fear in our communities and destabilize existing public safety efforts — all to create a justification to further abuse his power,” Pritzker said.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said that Trump’s approach was “uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound”.
The Washington Post report said that although Chicago officials are taking Trump’s warnings seriously, the federal government has not sent them any official notice. A spokesperson for the Illinois governor told the Post that no one from Trump’s team has contacted the governor’s office to discuss military plans.
The Pentagon’s plans for future troop deployments come as the Trump administration pushes state and local leaders to let the federal government play a bigger role in finding and deporting undocumented immigrants. Recently, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to many state, county, and local officials saying that “sanctuary policies” block law enforcement and will be challenged in court.
Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes…Read More
Ashesh Mallick is a Sub-Editor with over three years of experience in news writing, video production. He primarily covers national news, politics and global affairs. You can follow him on Twitter: @MallickAshes… Read More
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