Trump administration federalizing 300 National Guard members in Illinois, White House confirms

CHICAGO (WLS) — The Trump administration federalizing 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement on Saturday.

The White House later confirmed that President Donald Trump has “authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets” amid ongoing ICE raids in the Chicago area.

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Pritzker said the Department of War gave him an ultimatum, telling him to call up the troops himself.

“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said, in part. He said the administration intends to federalize hundreds of National Guard troops “in the coming hours.”

A White House spokesperson shared a statement with ABC7 Chicago Saturday night, saying, “Amidst ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets. President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”

The announcement came after a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in Portland for at least 14 days. Oregon’s governor, said in a statement, “justice has been served, and the truth has prevailed.”

The concern over a deployment of Illinois National Guard members prompted an emergency motion filed by Broadview leaders Saturday. The village is seeking the removal of the fence erected by federal authorities around the ICE facility amid ongoing demonstrations.

The village has called the fence illegal and a safety hazard, asking for a judge to grant the motion pending a Tuesday hearing on the village’s lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS responded to that motion in its own court filing, saying there’s no need for a hearing before Tuesday, bringing up the possibility of a settlement on Monday.

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Amid the announcement of the federalization of the National Guard in Illinois, confrontations seemed to arise again Saturday in Broadview between demonstrators and Illinois State Police throughout the day.

“It’s a continuing overreach by the president because the governor is responsible for calling up the troops when they think it’s necessary,” demonstrator Tony DiBenedetto said.

A crowd of anti-ICE demonstrators cheered on at least four people ABC7 saw detained by Illinois State Police as they were walked into a Cook County Sheriff’s Office van in handcuffs. They were taken down as troopers were clearing the street outside the ICE detention center in Broadview, backing protesters into designated zones, feet from the immigration building and surrounded by concrete barriers. Federal agents were on the other side of the fence with their flying drone above it all.

“I’m not here to deal with the State Police. I’m here to deal with the kidnapping that ICE is doing, and it’s immensely disappointing that State Police are putting themselves between us and ICE,” demonstrator Will Creutz said.

Tensions continued throughout the night Saturday between Illinois State Police and demonstrators.

Federal agents and protesters also clashed at the west suburban Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Friday morning.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said at least five people were arrested during those clashes. They are facing charges such as resisting, obstruction and aggravated battery to a police officer.

That clash came after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino were seen on the ICE facility’s roof just before 8 a.m. They were accompanied by several armed agents, cameras and a production crew.

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President Donald Trump has previously threatened to send the National Guard to Chicago to combat crime, and even said earlier this week that the city could become a training ground for the military.

On Monday, Pritzker said he learned that DHS is requesting that 100 military personnel be sent to Illinois to protect ICE agents.

Full Saturday statement from Pritzker:
“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.

In the coming hours, the Trump Administration intends to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard. They will pull hardworking Americans out of their regular jobs and away from their families all to participate in a manufactured performance — not a serious effort the protect public safety. For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety. This is about control.

This demand follows unprecedented escalations of aggression against Illinois citizens and residents. Yesterday, Kristi Noem’s and Greg Bovino’s masked agents threw chemical agents near an elementary school, arrested elected officials exercising their First Amendment rights, and raided a Wal-Mart. None of it was in pursuit of justice, but all of it was in pursuit of social media videos.

I want to be clear: there is no need for military troops on the ground in the State of Illinois. State, county, and local law enforcement have been working together and coordinating to ensure public safety around the Broadview ICE facility, and to protect people’s ability to peacefully exercise their connotational rights. I will not call up our National Guard to further Trump’s acts of aggression against our people.

In Illinois, we will do everything within our power to look out for our neighbors, uphold the Constitution, and defend the rule of law.”

Statement from Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton:
“Donald Trump intends to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and deploy them to Chicago without the consent of Governor Pritzker or our administration. These are Illinoisans who will be ripped away from their families to serve in Trump’s political stunt. We have warned that this has been their plan all along, and now it’s here.

Our city is not a sandbox for Donald Trump to play dictator. It’s intentional cruelty that will devastate families and scar our communities.

Let me be clear: the only emergency in Chicago is the chaos that Donald Trump and his administration are deliberately fueling in our streets. Journalists targeted and shot at, peaceful residents dragged from their homes, women and children zip-tied in the streets, families torn apart and stuffed into U-Hauls. This is unacceptable, reprehensible, and not what we stand for in Illinois.

“I have spent my career working to make communities safer and lead on public safety for our administration. Not a single violence-prevention expert I have worked with has ever said the answer is to flood our neighborhoods with federal troops. This move will only serve to spread fear, escalate conflict, and undermine the trust that keeps communities safe.

To the people of Illinois: know that Governor Pritzker and I will use every tool at our disposal to defend our city, protect our residents, and resist this reckless, authoritarian power grab.”