President Donald Trump has authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago, claiming the move is necessary to curb what he described as “out-of-control crime” in the city.
The decision came just hours after immigration authorities reported violent clashes with protesters outside enforcement facilities. Officials said an “armed woman” was shot after a group rammed vehicles into law enforcement cars.
The Department of Homeland Security said agents “fired defensive shots” after being confronted by an armed suspect, who later drove herself to hospital.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker condemned the deployment as “an attempt to manufacture a crisis,” accusing the administration of escalating tensions. “They want mayhem on the ground,” he told CNN. “They want to create a war zone so they can send in even more troops.”
Legal challenges are expected, as National Guard deployments traditionally require state consent. The move follows a similar attempt in Portland, Oregon, where a federal judge blocked Trump’s deployment of 200 troops, ruling it unconstitutional and warning that it “blurred the line between civil and military power.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson defended the president’s action, citing “ongoing violent riots and lawlessness” in cities led by Democrats.
Chicago has seen heightened protests in recent weeks over immigration enforcement, though violent crime has fallen sharply since 2023. Between January and June this year, homicides dropped by nearly a third, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.
Despite the decline, Trump continues to portray Democratic-led cities as unsafe and has openly described urban deployments as “training grounds” for U.S. troops to combat “the enemy from within.” Critics warn the strategy risks deepening political and constitutional rifts across the country.
