Troops might already be in Chicago, according to a memo leaked to independent journalist Ken Klippenstein.
The document described an Aug. 27 request for support to enforce immigration laws.
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requests immediate Department of Defense (DoD) support to provide existing infrastructure to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), a component of DHS, to conduct operations in the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area. This support is critical to ensuring the efficient and secure handling of aliens in accordance with federal regulations and in line with ICE’s ongoing efforts to address public safety and national security.”
When asked earlier this week if he would deploy the National Guard to Chicago, President Trump replied, “We’re going in,” adding: “I didn’t say when.”
Trump has proposed sending troops to Chicago and Baltimore to reduce violent crime.
He posted on X:
Violence in Chicago needs to stop, Trump said in a separate post.
At least 54 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, 8 people were killed.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has signed an order refusing to help federal officials deport illegal immigrants. Chicago is a sanctuary city.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has also told Trump not to send troops to Chicago.
Chicagoans reject Trump’s proposed invasion of our city — and Chicago’s business community has been clear: no tariffs, no troops, and cut the chaos.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) September 3, 2025
The President should know that the people of Chicago, of Illinois, and of the nation don’t take well to brazen federal overreach. pic.twitter.com/NZRktGOdTm
Pritzker said that there was no emergency in Chicago.
The President's absurd characterizations don’t match what's happening here.
— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) September 3, 2025
There's no emergency that warrants deploying troops in Chicago.
He’s insulting Chicagoans by calling our home a hellhole – and anyone who takes his word at face value is insulting them, too.
Trump's administration has targeted Democratic-run cities with high crime rates. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a news conference last week.
She said that Chicago has had the most murders of any US city for 13 consecutive years.
“Clearly, Americans want to serve their communities, they just need a leader who encourages them to do so. Maybe Gov. Pritzker should spend less time demonizing the police, more time trying to recruit more police, and more time trying to call the President of The United States to get crime in his city under control. The President wants to allow law enforcement, whether it’s state, local, federal, to do their jobs, to arrest criminals, to put them behind bars, and to remove public safety threats from American communities, and he’ll continue to do that.”
Trump has also talked about sending troops to Baltimore.