Trump administration declares US cities war zones amid rising tension over troop deployment

CHICAGO - The Trump administration branded Chicago a “war zone” on Oct 5 as justification for deploying soldiers against the will of local Democratic officials, while a judge blocked the White House from sending troops to another Democratic-run city.

An escalating political crisis across the country pits President Donald Trump’s anti-crime and migration crackdown against opposition Democrats who accuse him of an authoritarian power grab.

In the latest flashpoint, Mr Trump late on Oct 4 authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard soldiers to Chicago, the third-largest city in the United States, despite the opposition of elected leaders including the mayor and Illinois State Governor J.B. Pritzker.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the move on Oct 5, claiming on Fox News that Chicago is “a war zone”.

But Mr Pritzker, speaking on CNN’s State Of The Union show, accused Republicans of aiming to sow “mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone, so that they can send in even more troops”.

“They need to get the heck out,” he said.

A CBS poll released on Oct 5 found that 42 per cent of Americans favour deploying the National Guard to cities, compared with 58 per cent who oppose it.

Mr Trump – who on Sept 30 spoke of using the military for a “war from within” – shows no sign of backing off his hardline campaign.

In an untrue claim on Oct 5, he said: “Portland is burning to the ground. It’s insurrectionists all over the place.”

Key ally Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, echoed the President’s rhetoric on Oct 5, telling NBC’s Meet The Press that National Guard troops deployed in the US capital Washington had responded to a “literal war zone”.

No to ‘martial law’

But Mr Trump’s campaign to use the military on home soil hit a roadblock late on Oct 4 in Portland, Oregon, when a court

ruled that the deployment was unlawful

.

Mr Trump has repeatedly called Portland “war-ravaged”, but US District Judge Karin Immergut issued a temporary block, saying “the President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts”.

“This is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law,” Ms Immergut wrote in her ruling.

Although Portland has seen scattered attacks on federal officers and property, the Trump administration failed to demonstrate “that those episodes of violence were part of an organised attempt to overthrow the government as a whole” – thereby justifying military force, she said.

One of Mr Trump’s key advisers, Mr Stephen Miller, called the judge’s order “legal insurrection”.

On Oct 5, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is at the forefront of Democratic moves against Mr Trump, said the US President had deployed his state’s National Guard to Oregon, and that he would be suing over the move.

“His deployment of the California National Guard to Oregon isn’t about crime. It’s about power. He is using our military as political pawns to build up his own ego,” said Mr Newsom.

Chicago shooting

The Trump crackdown is being spearheaded by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The department is being rapidly expanded, both in personnel and duties.

ICE raids around the country – primarily in cities run by Democrats – have seen groups of masked, armed men in unmarked cars and armoured vehicles target residential neighbourhoods and businesses, sparking protests.

Days of tense scenes in Chicago turned violent on Oct 4 when a federal officer

shot a motorist

that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said had been armed and had rammed one of their patrol vehicles.

DHS officials have said that ICE officers also shot and killed 38-year-old immigrant Silverio Villegas Gozalez during a traffic stop on Sept 12, accusing him of allegedly trying to flee the scene and dragging an ICE officer with the vehicle. AFP