Pritzker says Trump is ordering Texas National Guard members to Illinois
Illinois governor JB Pritzker said on Sunday evening that President Donald Trump had ordered the deployment of national guard members in Texas in Illinois.
In an article on X, Pritzker said that 400 members of the Texas National Guard will be deployed in Illinois, Oregon, and other places in the United States
“No civil servant of the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate. We must now start to call what it is: the invasion of Trump. It started with federal agents, this will soon include the deployment of federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and that will now imply sending military troops from another state.”
Pritzker said he called the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, to immediately withdraw any support for and refuse to coordinate.
“There is no reason that a president should send military troops in a sovereign state without the knowledge, their consent or their cooperation. Courageous men and women who serve in our national guards should not be used as political accessories. This is a time when each American must speak and help stop this madness.” Pritzker said.
In response, Abbott said that he had “fully authorized” the deployment of troops by state “to ensure the safety of federal officials”.
“You can either fully apply the protection of federal employees, or move away from the path and let Texas Guard do it,” said the republican governor on X.
It comes after a Memo obtained by CBS News from the Pentagon asked that hundreds of troops from the National Guard be sent to Illinois. Pritzker said on Saturday that the Trump administration intended to Federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard After proposing an ultimatum on the deployment of troops. The Ultimatum of the Trump administration, according to Pritzker, was “to call your troops, or we will do it”.
The possible arrival of the members of the National Guard comes in the middle of the clashes between demonstrators and federal agents in BroadView, Illinois, where, in the past two weeks, more than a dozen demonstrators have been arrested.
Other protests against federal agents led a woman on Saturday to an agent in Brighton Park. She, with another man, has been accused of assault, annoying and of force with a federal law enforcement agent after the Ministry of Internal Security said that they had struck and cashed the vehicle of federal agents. No agent was injured in this incident, according to the DHS.
It is not known when or specifically the National Guard will arrive in Illinois.
At least 200 federal members of the California National Guard were deployed in Oregon Overnight, according to officials, more expected after a judge prevented the administration from deploying this Oregon guard in Portland. The latest order for California was also blocked on Sunday by the same judge.
According to the Associated Press, President Trump federated up to 400 from the Texas National Guard for Oregon, Illinois, and beyond, according to the Memo of the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, in a judicial file. Less than an hour later, a federal judge temporarily prevented the administration from deploying troops from the National Guard in Oregon, which also includes the California National Guard.
Adam Harrington and Marissa Sulek contributed to this report.
