Illinois Governor JB Pretzker said the Department of Homeland Security had requested the National Guard to protect immigration agents. Pretzker says the White House is making power gloves.
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Trump said on social media that he is sending troops to Portland, Oregon to protect immigration facilities. Oregon officials call the lawsuit illegal and unfair.
CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters on September 29 that he just learned that the Department of Homeland Security had requested that the deployment of the National Guard be deployed in the region despite raucous objections from local leaders.
“What I’m warning about is that it’s now happening,” Pretzker said at a press conference. “This is not about fighting crime. It’s about winging fear and threats among Americans.
The governor said the Department of Homeland Security previously sent a memo to the Department of Defense’s Department of War, demanding 100 troops from the Illinois National Guard. According to Pretzker, the military should be used to sign the enforcement body of Trump’s Chicago area immigration enforcement body as Operation Mudiwai Blitz.
Sean Parnell, a spokesman for the Pentagon Prime Minister, confirmed that the War Department had received a request from the military. Parnell did not say whether the National Guard would be deployed.
“The Department of War has received a request for assistance in protecting the federal government’s personnel, property and functions in Illinois,” Parnell told USA Today. “Decisions will be made according to an established process and announced at the appropriate time.”
Trump has been saying he plans to send the National Guard to Chicago since early September. However, the White House has not deployed its troops against local leadership challenges. Illinois officials fear Trump is using clashes between federal agents and anti-immigration enforcement protesters as justification for Trump to deploy soldiers.
The president says the operation is intended to capture the “worst and worst” criminals who are immigrants. Illinois leaders say the Republican president’s goal is to control large democratic regions.
Illinois officials did not say exactly when National Guard members would deploy.
Pretzker said the memo from Homeland Security to the War Division is the same path taken to deploy troops in Portland, Oregon. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raul said he is ready to file a lawsuit against the White House if the military deploys.
In addition to Pretzker and Raul, other local leaders at the September 29 press conference include Chicago County President Toni Preckwinkle and Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson.
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The expected deployment of the National Guard will take place approximately three weeks after Operation Midway Blitz launch.
Homeland Security officials said more than 700 migrants were in detention in connection with the operation. The crackdown on federal immigration enforcement reflects a major shift in the pace of long-standing sanctuary city Chicago and its surrounding areas.
A study compiled by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research group tracking immigration enforcement data, shows that more than 6,000 detainees have passed through an area of US immigration customs facility located outside of Chicago in Broadview.
However, the crackdown sparked nearly 24 hours of protest at an immigration enforcement facility about 12 miles west of Willis Tower in Chicago.
Homeland Security officials called protesters “mobs,” arrested multiple people and charged at least two protesters with assault. Authorities say they brought handguns to the demonstration.
Federal agents use chemicals containing pepper spray and tear gas with gaze to disperse Chicago protesters blocking immigrant enforcement vehicles. Agents on Friday fired the chemicals to protesters and journalists standing on the road leading to an immigration enforcement facility on 1930 Beach Street in Broadview.
“What we’re looking at is the first right to amend the dictatorship that has been eroded by the dictatorship that has decided to reduce dissent,” Sen. Karina Villa told reporters on September 29.
A Broadview official told USA Today that the village police station is investigating federal agents to fire crowd-controlled weapons in news reporters’ vehicles. Homeland Security authorities did not respond to repeated requests for comments regarding the investigation.
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Officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have said that centre is necessary to catch criminal immigrants, and among the famous arrests they promote, according to criminal history, immigration authorities say it includes child sexual abuse, domestic violence and battery.
But locals say innocent people are simply targeted based on their skin color.
“If you look like me, you’re at risk,” said Mexican-born Elendilla Rendon, a prominent Chicago immigration advocate. Rendon shed tears on September 29th, reading aloud a list of names of people photographed by immigration agents. “DHS terrifies our community and shows us the pain on social media.”
Research data from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, shows that in 2025, 65% of immigrant detainees were not criminally convicted, and 93% had no violent convictions.
Among those who Chicagoans hold as examples of innocent people detained are Laura Murillo, a popular Southside Tamale vendor who was taken into custody on September 25th, and Silver Vilgas Gonzalez, a Mexican immigrant who was fatally shot dead on September 12th after dropping his son at school.
“They don’t target violent criminals or gang members,” Pretzker said. “They are targeting Tamale vendors.”
