President Trump is deploying 400 Texas National Guard troops to Illinois, Oregon, and other states as swarms of anti-ICE protesters continue to clash with federal agents, Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday night.
The Illinois Democrat blasted Trump’s “invasion” hours after the president mobilized 300 California National Guard members to Portland, where unrest has raged for over 100 consecutive days outside an immigration detention center — a scene that has been playing out in Chicago since September.
Pritzker said the plan defies his wishes, adding that federal officials haven’t reached out to coordinate or discuss the deployment.
“We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion,” the governor said in a post on X, encouraging “every American to speak up and help stop this madness.”
“It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will not involve sending in another state’s military troops. I call on [Texas] Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate.”
Pritzker condemned Trump for wanting to send active-duty troops to a “sovereign state” without permission, accusing the president of using the National Guard as “political props.”
The White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
A violent wave of anti-ICE protests has intensified in the Windy City since US Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched “Operation Midway Blitz” last month, an initiative aimed at targeting criminal illegal immigrants who feds say flocked to Chicago to seek protection under the state’s “sanctuary policies.”
The immigration enforcement operation has drawn pushback from Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other prominent local Democrats.
But despite their objection, demonstrations have escalated in recent days, with protesters using vehicles to attack ICE agents in the Chicago area, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which said agents were targeted twice in such a manner one day earlier this week.
US Border Patrol agents patrolling Chicago’s South Side on Saturday also opened fire and wounded a woman — later found to be armed — after an angry mob attempted to attack the federal officers.
The agents were located about 15 miles from an ICE processing center in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, a site that’s been a hotbed of civil unrest, when the ambush began.
More than a dozen protesters have been arrested near the ICE facility since Friday, according to Fox News.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem — who touched down in Illinois Friday morning — called Chicago a “war zone” during an interview Sunday with “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
Noem also alleged that Chicago has been blocking federal law enforcement, including Border Patrol and ICE officers, from using public restrooms in the city.
On Friday, she was denied entry into a Broadview government building after asking to use the restroom, she said.
