Illinois leaders react after Trump renews push for federal help in Chicago despite opposition

CHICAGO (WGN) – President Trump renewed his push to send federal help to Chicago and announced Tuesday that he’s made up his mind about a federal surge.

“We’re going in. I didn’t say when, but we’re going in,” Trump said. “If the governor of Illinois would call up, call me up, I would love to do it. Now we’re going to do it anyway. We have a right to do it.”

This comes after Chicago saw a violent Labor Day weekend that ended with 58 people shot, eight of them fatally.

Meanwhile, the city, county and state’s Democratic leaders do not want this, but they’re bracing for federal immigration agents and another state’s national guard.

Also on Tuesday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker spoke at a press conference along with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, saying there is no emergency warranting the deployment of federal law enforcement to Chicago.

Pritzker said he’s learned armed agents are preparing for sweeping federal immigration raids. Those agents, Pritzker said, will be supported by the Texas National Guard.

The governor also warned of unidentifiable agents in unmarked vehicles raiding Latino communities around Mexican Independence Day celebrations.

The Department of Defense has secured Naval Station Great Lakes to prepare for this coming operation, which Pritzker expects will last 30 days.

At this rate, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott suggested it’s not accurate that his guard is about to deploy.

Raoul called what Trump plans to do illegal.

Trump spoke from the White House Tuesday afternoon, urging Pritzker to ask for help.

Pritzker fired back, saying he doesn’t think the president is doing this to fight crime, but rather seeing it as an opportunity to test the limits of his power.

“It’s an insult to any and every citizen to suggest that any governor should have to beg the president of any political party for resources owed to their people. I’d like to ask a question of my own and it’s one the press should be asking as well. When did we become a country where it’s okay for the U.S. president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything, especially something we don’t want?” Pritzker said.

All of this comes with new questions surrounding the legality of deploying the guard to American cities.

Also on Tuesday, a federal judge ruled Trump broke the law when he deployed roughly 5,000 Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June.