Following President Donald Trump’s vow to deploy the National Guard in Chicago, city officials and residents are preparing to fight back against a potential crackdown that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has said could begin as early as this weekend.
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The Trump Administration has given few details on what a National Guard presence would look like in Chicago, or when a deployment would begin—if it happens at all. Asked on Tuesday if he would send troops to the city as he had previously indicated he intended to, Trump told reporters, “We’re going in,” but noted, “I didn’t say when.” Vice President JD Vance told the press the following day that “no immediate plans” were in place.
Pritzker, however, said this week that Illinois officials have been told that the National Guard will be “assembled, ready to go” by Friday and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will expand its operations in the city beginning on Saturday.
The governor has pledged to “hold the line,” and both Chicago officials and residents are getting ready to push back.
Here are some ways the city and state are preparing.
Chicago officials and police
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order over the weekend directing the city’s police force not to cooperate with federal agents in a potential crackdown on crime and immigration.
The order states that “no CPD personnel shall be assigned joint law enforcement patrols, arrest operations, or other law enforcement duties alongside federal law enforcement, or military personnel, or National Guard units engaging in civil immigration enforcement.”
Johnson also urged city departments, officials and police to resist all efforts from the federal government to coordinate with state and city authorities.
“With this executive order, we send a resounding message to the federal government: we do not need nor want an unconstitutional and illegal military occupation of our city. We will take any action necessary to protect the rights of Chicagoans,” Johnson said.
A “Protecting Chicago Initiative” established in the executive order aims to make information regarding residents’ rights readily available, coordinate with businesses and agencies to address community needs, and regularly submit Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in response to actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against residents in Chicago.
The state
Pritzker has promised that legal action would follow a deployment, though he said on Tuesday that Illinois would only file a lawsuit against Trump once the President’s justification for deploying the National Guard in Chicago is known.
“We absolutely will go into court,” the governor said.
Pritzker has not been speaking with Trump to discuss the deployment of the Guard, in order to legally shield himself, the governor said on Wednesday.
“He wants to set into the fact pattern that the governor called him to ask for help. Why? Because he’s going to end up in court,” Pritzker said. “He’s going to end up in court, and that will be a fact that they will use in court. That the governor called to ask for help, and I’m sorry I’m not going to provide him with evidence to support his desire to have the court rule in his favor. I’m just not going to do that.”
Illinois has previously filed or joined multiple lawsuits against theTrump Administration since Trump returned to the White House in January.
A judge ruled this week that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles earlier this summer was illegal due to the use of soldiers to perform law enforcement functions.
Chicago’s Black and Hispanic communities
With Trump’s threat of a crackdown looming, many Black churches around Chicago are planning to participate in “Resistance Sunday” this week to provide information about citizens’ legal rights in the event they are stopped or questioned by officials.
Mayor Johnson has sharply criticized Trump’s targeting of Democratic cities and called efforts to combat crime by sending more people to prison “racist, immoral, and unholy.”
“We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence; we’ve already tried that, and we’ve ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence,” Johnson said in a press conference last week.
“The president’s threats to send federal troops to Chicago are a clear blatant attack on the Black community and the immigrant community,” the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said in a statement.
Read more: Trump Says Chicago Is Next in His Crackdown on Crime. Here Are the Facts About Crime in the City
Pritzker on Tuesday said he was “deeply concerned” that ramped up federal immigration enforcement efforts would target Mexican Independence Day celebrations scheduled to take place in the city in mid September. Organizers of the events plan to increase security measures, acknowledging that the threat of immigration-related arrests might deter people from attending.
“We have reason to believe that Stephen Miller chose the month of September to come to Chicago because of celebrations around Mexican Independence Day that happen here every year,” Pritzker said.
“It’s a dark cloud that is hanging over our heads. But we are planning a safe event,” Teresa Fraga told the Associated Press. Fraga is planning an event in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, where she said there will be heightened security and lawyers present.
Protests
Activist networks in Chicago have circulated schedules for anti-Trump marches and training sessions on civil rights, while providing numbers where people can report immigration arrests.
Protests against the Administration have already been held this week, with hundreds of people taking to the streets in Chicago in “Coalition Against the Trump Agenda” and “Workers Over Billionaires” marches. Further Demonstrations are planned for when National Guard troops arrive.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights has planned an emergency “Chicago Says No Trump, No Troops” protest for if and when the Guard is deployed.