Got more questions? WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times provide answers.
WBEZ and The Chicago Sun-Times are answering your questions about immigration operations and National Guard deployments to the Chicago area.
President Donald Trump has activated the Illinois and Texas National Guards to deploy to the Chicago area. The administration says the troops will provide protect federal property and immigration agents who are carrying out Trump’s deportation campaign here. Illinois’ governor and Chicago’s mayor have denounced the deployments as an “invasion,” and are suing to block them.
We’re answering your questions about the deployments and immigration enforcement in Chicago (submit yours here). Here are some of the questions that are coming up the most.How is it legal for the National Guard to just march into our city?
In justifying such deployments, the Trump administration has been citing the Insurrection Act, which was intended to deal with internal rebellion.
Many legal experts say this would be a nuclear option and that allowing federal troop deployment should only be implemented in an emergency.
Trump previously deployed troops to Los Angeles against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wishes by putting the California National Guard under federal jurisdiction. Newsom and the state of California sued, claiming federalizing the National Guard violated the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits using the military as law enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in California recently accused President Donald Trump of a “serious” violation of the law, though Breyer made it clear that his 52-page order applies only to Trump’s use of the National Guard in California.
Trump’s assertion of a “constitutional exception,” which claims “the president has inherent constitutional authority to protect federal property, federal personnel and federal functions,” was also rejected by Breyer.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling last week said National Guard members cannot arrest people in Chicago unless they are partnering with federal or local law enforcement.
Another unlikely possibility would involve Trump deploying to Chicago the D.C. National Guard, which he commands. This was done when President John F. Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard in 1963 to integrate the University of Alabama.Can the Trump administration send federal immigration agents to the Naval Station Great Lakes for immigration operations?
Yes, though White House officials said plans to expand immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and other major cities are distinct from Trump’s threats to send the National Guard to combat violent crime.
When it comes to immigration enforcement, White House officials said the current immigration push is firmly in the president’s executive authority.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has confirmed a ramped-up post-Labor Day deportation campaign was in the works for Chicago with a “large contingent” of agents.
Last week the Sun-Times first reported that the Defense Department has secured Naval Station Great Lakes, about 35 minutes north of Chicago, for an immigration blitz in Chicago.
