Pritzker says Trump administration to deploy Texas National Guard to Illinois
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said on Sunday evening that President Donald Trump has ordered National Guard members from Texas to be deployed to Illinois.
In a post on X, Pritzker said that 400 members of the Texas National Guard will be deployed to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the U.S.
"No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate. We must now start calling this what it is: Trump's Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state's military troops."
Pritzker said he called Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for and to refuse to coordinate.
"There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation. The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props. This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness." Pritzker said.
This comes after a memo obtained by CBS News from the Pentagon called for hundreds of National Guard troops to be sent to Illinois. Pritzker on Saturday said that the Trump administration intended to federalize 300 Illinois National Guard members after he was offered an ultimatum on troop deployment. The ultimatum by the Trump administration, according to Pritzker, was "call up your troops, or we will."
The possible arrival of National Guard members comes amid clashes between demonstrators and federal agents in Broadview, Illinois, where, within the past couple of weeks, over a dozen protesters were arrested.
Further protests against federal agents led to a woman being shot by an agent in Brighton Park on Saturday. She, along with another man, were charged with forcibly assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer after the Department of Homeland Security said they rammed and boxed in the vehicle of federal agents. No agents were hurt in that incident, according to DHS.
It is unclear when or where specifically the National Guard will arrive in Illinois.
At least 200 federalized California National Guard members were deployed to Oregon overnight into Sunday, according to officials, with more expected after a judge temporarily blocked the administration from deploying that state's guard to Portland. According to the Associated Press, President Trump is federalizing up to 400 from the Texas National Guard for Oregon, Illinois, and beyond, per Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's memo in a court filing.
Adam Harrington and Marissa Sulek contributed to this report.
Jeramie Bizzle is a web producer for CBS Chicago. Jeramie began working with CBS Chicago as an intern in 2017 and returned as a full-time Web Producer in 2021. He has previously written for the Austin Weekly Newspaper, OakPark.com and Sportskeeda.
