Chicago, IL – Political tensions escalated across Illinois this weekend as state and federal leaders clashed over a plan by the White House to federalize 300 National Guard members for deployment in Chicago. The order, issued despite opposition from Gov. J. B. Pritzker, came as federal immigration raids and new reports of tech-industry compliance with federal directives intensified the public backlash.
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According to NBC News and the Chicago Tribune, Pritzker said the Defense Department informed him the Guard would be deployed “with or without” state consent. He denounced the move as “outrageous and un-American,” warning that it “violates the balance between state authority and federal power.”
Local and federal officials offered sharply different explanations. U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros described the deployment as part of a broader criminal-enforcement strategy, while Chicago lawmakers called it a “siege on democracy.” Rep. Robin Kelly said the operation “endangers communities and wastes taxpayer dollars,” and former state senator Daniel Biss added that Chicago “won’t back down from intimidation.”
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Meanwhile, NPR reported that Apple and Google removed mobile apps that alerted users to nearby ICE activity after the administration requested the change. Civil-liberties advocates warned the removals could limit transparency during ongoing federal operations in major cities.
Legal scholars said the confrontation marks one of the most serious federal-state disputes in decades. “If Guard units are deployed over the governor’s objection, it raises profound constitutional questions,” said Loyola University law professor Janet Shapiro.
Protests continued late Saturday in downtown Chicago as demonstrators demanded congressional oversight of both the troop deployment and the widening federal immigration enforcement surge.
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