As Legal Insurrection reported, President Donald Trump revealed during an informal Oval Office presser on Friday that he was considering making Chicago and New York City the next stops on his crime/illegal immigration crackdown after Washington, D.C.
“Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out, probably next, that’ll be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough,” he stated, while later noting that New York City was another on the list of priority cities.
One argument Democrats and the mainstream media have been trying to throw at Trump is that if he was so concerned with crime, then why doesn’t he push for National Guard action in red states that have crime issues?
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), a prospective 2028 presidential hopeful, is among those who have echoed that talking point:
Leaving aside that any red state that allegedly has a “higher per capita murder rate” likely has it due to out-of-control crime in blue cities, the question is an attempted gotcha, with the insinuation that Trump’s NG actions in Washington, D.C., are more about embarrassing D.C. Democrats than fighting crime.
Except on Friday evening, there was fresh reporting that there were plans to expand National Guard assistance to 19 states, with most of them being red ones:
Up to 1,700 National Guardsmen are set to mobilize in 19 states in the coming weeks to assist the Department of Homeland Security with President Trump’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration and crime, Pentagon officials confirmed to FOX News.
Documents obtained by FOX News show planning for activations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming – with status effective from August through mid-November. Texas is projected to host the most significant Guard presence.
The National Guard soldiers being mobilized will effectively serve as a support pillar to a sweeping federal interagency effort, while also serving as a visible deterrent force, a U.S. Defense official said. The service members supporting ICE will be performing case management, transportation, logistical support, and clerical functions associated with the processing of illegal migrants at the facilities. “The in-and-out processing may include personal data collection, fingerprinting, DNA swabbing and photographing of personnel in ICE custody,” the official said.
Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich shared more information on her X feed:
– Fewer than 2% of the authorized forces have mobilized so far, but missions coordinated under state governors are projected to expand in the coming weeks – including in Virginia, where approximately 60 soldiers and airmen will begin training next week- Under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, use of the federal armed forces for civilian law enforcement is generally prohibited – but the National Guardsmen will be mobilizing under Title 32 Section 502F authority, to which Posse Comitatus does not apply.- Guardsmen will remain under command and control of their governors, so it’s up to governors when they’ll bring in those forces – timelines will differ by state because of this
In an update, Heinrich reported that White House officials wanted it clarified that these plans were in the works well before Trump decided to federalize law enforcement in D.C.:
The White House is emphasizing that planning for National Guard activations in 19 states for DHS logistical support preceded President Trump’s comments within the last 48 hours about replicating enforcement efforts seen in Washington, DC in other parts of the country. The White House flags this statement by Sean Parnell (which is referenced in detail in our article)On background from a White House official: “This isn’t new nor is it tied to the President’s efforts to address violent crime in DC. DoD announced last month that National Guard troops would assist DHS with clerical support and other logistical tasks for processing illegal aliens at ICE facilities. It is separate from the federal interagency crime crackdown. Bottom line: The National Guard mobilizing to assist ICE processing with clerical and logistical tasks in several states is not the same as the President’s actions to stop crime in DC.”
It sounds as though the National Guard administrative assistance will be more on the DHS/ICE side of things than the local law enforcement side of things. But either way, rest assured that there will be more wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Usual Suspects if the cities the National Guard ends up assisting in are primarily Democrat-run.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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