WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump has since sent the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington He openly meditated on sending the army. It argues that some of the nation’s most democratic cities, including Chicago and Baltimore, are necessary to crack down on crime.
The threat of expanding federal intervention raises concerns that legal experts and some military officials are considering new ways Trump will use American city national security forces It could set up a conflict that has not been seen since the civil rights era.
But Most violent crimes have decreased In a city where Trump has spoken out in recent years, the Republican president has said that Illinois government JB Pretzker should call me and say, ‘Can you send me the troops?’ It’s out of control. ”
Whether Trump can repeat what he did in L.A. and the country’s capital – summoning the National Guard to help surge in federal law enforcement and immigration officials is an open question and likely to be a point of contention if he moves forward.
Let’s see how Trump used the military in American cities, what the law allows, and what comes next.
How Trump is already using the National Guard
Play first Deployed troops in Los Angeles By protecting federal property in early June, by placing the California State Guard over Gavin Newsom’s dissent, under federal jurisdiction known as Title 10; Protest against immigrant attacks.
In addition to 4,000 security guards, Trump later dispatched 700 active Marines, California sued About intervention. Security guards helped protect officers during the immigrant arrest.
While Trump pushes the limits of the law, The lawsuit is central Whether the president was allowed to use security guards to closely suppress federal law enforcement, and whether it violates the prohibition on using the military as law enforcement; Posse Comitatus Actsaid Todd Huntley, director of the National Security Law Program at Georgetown University Law Center.
Meanwhile, a unique position in the District of Columbia National Guard – Trump is their commander – means he could use it from everything. Armed Patrol Destroy cleanup without legal issues. Legal restrictions on law enforcement will not come into effect as they are in the state rather than in the federal order.
“Where we have a big question mark” is “whether the national governor must agree to send troops to his state,” said Huntley, a retired navy captain and judge advocate.
How this will unfold in Chicago and other cities
The Trump administration is planning to surge police officers in the country’s third largest city to suppress immigration, two officials said.
The Department of Homeland Security asked The Great Lakes at Naval Station outside Chicago said this week to support immigration operations, including facilities and logistics. The Illinois National Guard and the base said they have not received requests for military mobilization to Chicago.
If Trump wants freedom to use the National Guard as he pleases in Chicago, the easiest legal path is to call the Rebellion Act. This is a vaguely described 1792 Act that allows the president to deploy federal forces within the United States and implement law enforcement.
The law provides the president with drastic powers, in the context of armed conflicts within the United States.
“The orders will be given by him… and he will have no say in whether he will allow them to the state or whether they allow them to do missions in the state,” Huntley said.
However, Huntley calls this “nuclear selection.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, DC National Guard officials said security guards could be deployed indefinitely by calling rebellion laws over a wide range of topics like crime.
Another possibility is that Trump will deploy a DC guard that will order the DC guard to another state, officials said.
If the DC Guard is under federal orders, that is, Trump has the power to do – that could lead to some rare situations involving a federal DC security guard sent to another state.
The possibility is not unprecedented.
“That solution could be something we saw in Alabama in the civil rights era. The president could simply federate in order to take on the ability of the governor to use the state’s national guard,” Huntley said.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy made the Alabama State Guard the federal government a part of a now-famous standoff with Gov. George Wallace. Wallace finally relented.
How Trump’s new executive order on the National Guard will affect what happens next
in Presidential Order Signing on Monday, Trump ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegses to create a “specialist unit” within the DC Guard “which will be dedicated to ensuring public safety and order.”
He also directed that all state security guards are ready to support federal and local law enforcement by “squeezing civil disability and ensuring public safety and order” when necessary. They also want each unit to be “rationally available to mobilize quickly.”
The Pentagon has not provided details on what Trump’s orders mean for the National Guard. The defense attorney confirmed that Hegseth’s office is aware of the order and that they are reviewing it and confirming its specific requirements.
All state security guards already have “rebellious forces” aimed at dealing with a variety of incidents with an initial force of 75-125 personnel within eight hours and subsequent forces of up to 375 personnel within 24 hours. National Guard Fact Sheet.
And the DC National Guard already has a unit made up entirely of soldiers trained as military police.
