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Trump deploys National Guard as Los Angeles protests against immigration agents continue

Trump authorises deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago

President Donald Trump has authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago to address what he says is out-of-control crime.

The move came hours after immigration authorities said they faced off with protesters in the Democrat-run city and shot an armed woman when she and others rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles.

State and local leaders have for weeks criticised Trump's deployment plans and called it an abuse of power. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Trump was "attempting to manufacture a crisis".

The announcement came as a federal judge in Portland, Oregon - another liberal city - temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying 200 troops there.

Judge Karin Immergut called Trump's statements about conditions in Portland "untethered to the facts," and said the move violated the Constitution.

She said the use of the military to quell unrest without the state of Oregon consenting risked the sovereignty of that state and others, adding that it also inflamed tensions in the city and caused increased protests.

Immergut ruled that the administration's arguments for the deployment "risk blurring the line between civil and military federal power - to the detriment of this nation".

While it's unclear whether troops have arrived in Chicago, any such deployment would likely be met with legal challenges.

The city is the latest - many of them led by Democrats - to be targeted for a controversial deployment of troops, joining Washington, Los Angeles, Memphis and Portland.

The deployments have posed both legal and constitutional questions, as National Guard troops are typically deployed by a state's governor and century-old laws limit the government's use of the military for domestic matters.

Chicago has seen an increase in protests over immigration enforcement in the city, many of them happening outside US Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.

"Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like [Gov] Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. "President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities."

On Saturday - just before Trump authorised troops there - US Border Patrol personnel shot a woman in Chicago after a group of people rammed cars into immigration enforcement vehicles, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement. The woman was armed, the statement said.

The woman's injuries were unclear. DHS said she drove herself to a local hospital.

Earlier this week, the president talked about his ongoing military deployments to US cities while addressing high-ranking leaders across the military.

He told military leaders he wants American cities used as "training grounds" for US troops so they can combat the "enemy from within" and quell unrest.

"They're very unsafe places and we're going to straighten them out one by one," he said of Democratic-led cities, including Chicago. He told the military leaders it would be "a major part for some of the people in this room".

Trump has threatened to send troops to Chicago for nearly a month - citing crime and shootings in the city.

Violent crime in Chicago has fallen significantly over the past two years. Between January and June, the homicide rate was down by a third compared with the same period last year, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

But the overall levels in Chicago remain substantially higher than the average for many US cities. There were at least 58 people shot - eight fatally - over the Labor Day holiday weekend last month.

BBC
 
Trump sends troops from California to Portland after court denies deployment

President Donald Trump has sent federalised troops from California to Oregon after a court denied his attempt to deploy the National Guard in Portland.

The deployment circumvents a judge's order that blocked deploying troops in Portland by instead using National Guard members who were already serving in Los Angeles after summer protests there.

California Gov Gavin Newsom vowed to file a lawsuit over the manoeuvre, which he called a "breathtaking abuse of the law and power".

Portland is the latest US city - many of which are Democrat-led - targeted as part of the president's crime crackdown. He has argued troops are necessary to restore peace amid ongoing protests over immigration enforcement.

The Pentagon confirmed 200 members of the California National Guard were reassigned to Portland to "support US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties".

"President Trump exercised his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following violent riots and attacks on law enforcement," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.

She attacked Newsom, saying he should "stand on the side of law-abiding citizens instead of violent criminals destroying Portland and cities across the country."

Over the summer, there were large protests daily in Los Angeles after the city became a target of increased immigration raids. Trump deployed the state's National Guard to quell the unrest in June, a significant move as deployments are typically the responsibility of a state's governor. Newsom argued that using the military in Los Angeles was unnecessary and inflamed tensions. Trump said it saved the city from burning to the ground.

The Trump administration redeployed those same troops who were still in Los Angeles to Portland.

"This isn't about public safety, it's about power. The commander-in-chief is using the US military as a political weapon against American citizens," Newsom said after Trump sent the troops to Portland, accusing the president of ignoring courts.

"We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the President of the United States."

Protests have been ongoing in Portland and other cities over the Trump administration's increased immigration enforcement. Portland, in particular, has long drawn Trump's ire over its alleged concentration of people his supporters describe as Antifa, short for "anti-fascist". The president recently signed an executive order designating the group, which is a loosely organised movement of far-left activists, as a domestic terrorist organisation.

The Portland deployment came one day after Trump authorised the deployment of 300 National Guard troops to Chicago to address what he says is out-of-control crime.

Chicago has also seen protests over increased immigration enforcement. On Saturday, protests became violent, with immigration authorities saying they opened fire on an armed woman after she and others allegedly rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles.

The woman's condition is unclear, but officials said she drove herself to a hospital.

State and local leaders have decried Trump's deployment plans there and called it an abuse of power. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Trump was "attempting to manufacture a crisis".

On Sunday, Gov Pritzker told CNN that the authorisation of troops there will incite protests. He accused the administration of creating a "war zone" to rationalise the response.

"They want mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone so that they can send in even more troops," he told CNN's Jake Tapper. "They're using every lever at their disposal to keep us from maintaining order."

BBC
 
Trump calls for jailing of Illinois governor and Chicago mayor in immigration standoff

President Donald Trump has called for the jailing of Illinois officials, accusing them of not doing enough to ensure the safety of federal immigration officers who are conducting raids in Chicago.

The president wrote in a social media post that Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, both Democrats, "should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers!"

Trump has previously called the city a "war zone" amid protests against immigration enforcement. Pritzker has called the president's actions "authoritarian".

The Republican president spoke as hundreds of National Guard troops arrived in the city as part of his immigration crackdown.

The standoff raises the temperature in an already heated rhetorical battle between Trump and local officials in Democratic-led cities and states.

The Chicago mayor quickly fired back at Trump, saying "this is not the first time Trump has tried to have a Black man unjustly arrested. I'm not going anywhere."

Pritzker vowed: "I will not back down.

"Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?"

The arrival of National Guard troops in Chicago follows similar deployments to Los Angeles and Washington DC to stem what the president has described as "out of control" crime.

Last month, Washington DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit challenging the deployment, saying "it is not only unnecessary and unwanted, but it is also dangerous and harmful to the District and its residents".

Trump has also directed them to enter Memphis, Tennessee, and Portland, Oregon. A judge has blocked their deployment to Portland, but allowed them to go to Chicago for now.

The state of Illinois and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit on Monday to block the deployment. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and use the military if courts stop the deployments, which he has defended as necessary to address rampant crime and defend immigration enforcers.

"If I had to enact it, I'd do it, if people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up," Trump said on Monday.

White House officials have repeatedly criticised legal efforts to block the deployment, with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller telling reporters this week that court rulings against the government's law enforcement efforts were tantamount to "an insurrection against the laws and Constitution of the United States".

In Chicago, protests grew violent last weekend, with immigration authorities saying they opened fire on a woman after she and others allegedly rammed their cars into law enforcement vehicles.

The woman's condition is unclear, but officials said she drove herself to hospital. Her attorney has disputed the government's version of events.

President Trump is expected to host a roundtable on combating Antifa - a loosely-organised coalition of far-left activists - on Wednesday afternoon.

BBC
 
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