President Donald Trump has authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago to combat what he says is out-of-control crime.
The move came hours after immigration authorities said they faced off with protesters in the Democrat-run city and shot an armed woman when she and others rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles.
State and local leaders have for weeks criticised Trump’s deployment plans and called it an abuse of power. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Trump was “attempting to manufacture a crisis”.
The announcement came as a federal judge in Portland, Oregon – another liberal city – temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying 200 troops there.
Judge Karin Immergut called Trump’s statements about conditions in Portland “untethered to the facts,” and said the move violated the Constitution.
She said the use of the military to quell unrest without the state of Oregon consenting risked the sovereignty of that state and others, adding that it also inflamed tensions in the city and caused increased protests.
Immergut ruled that the administration’s arguments for the deployment “risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power – to the detriment of this nation”.
While it’s unclear whether troops have arrived in Chicago, any such deployment would likely be met with legal challenges.
