Consider This from NPR

Episode: The National Guard Arrives in Chicago. What Now?

Date: October 7, 2025
Host: Juana Summers

Episode Overview

This episode examines the Trump administration’s controversial deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities, specifically Chicago, Memphis, and Portland, in response to purported spikes in crime and to support federal immigration enforcement. It delves into the resulting legal and political standoff between the federal government and state and local leaders, the invocation of the Insurrection Act, and what this all means for Chicago. The episode features a detailed interview with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on the ground realities, legal challenges, and his broader concerns about federal overreach.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump Administration’s National Guard Deployment (00:00–00:38)

• President Trump’s Rationale
  • President Trump frames Chicago as suffering from extreme crime, citing comparisons to global conflict zones:

    "It's probably worse than almost any city in the in the world. You could go to Afghanistan. You can go to a lot of different places. And they probably marvel at how much crime we have."
    — President Donald Trump (00:16)

• Federal troops are said to be supporting immigration enforcement and curbing “rampant crime.”

2. State and Local Leaders Push Back (00:28–01:07)

• Legal and Political Resistance
  • Governors and mayors, notably Oregon Governor Tina Kotek and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, have filed lawsuits to halt the deployments, calling them threats to democracy and overreaction to manageable situations.
  • Governor Kotek remarks:

    "To put military troops in American cities is a threat to our democracy... There is not an insurrection or a rebellion not only in Portland or Chicago or other places."
    — Gov. Tina Kotek (00:38)

  • She emphasizes that local law enforcement is handling lawful demonstrations and these are not true crises:

    "Local law enforcement is handling the situation. And I think this is an overreaction..."
    — Gov. Kotek (00:54)

3. The Insurrection Act and Executive Power (01:07–01:42)

• Trump’s Threat to Bypass the Courts
  • President Trump signals willingness to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, granting him broad authority to deploy the military domestically:

    "We have an insurrection act for a reason. If I had to enact it, I'd do that..."
    — President Trump (01:28)

  • The administration portrays its actions as reactions to emergencies, while state leaders see it as federal overreach.

4. Interview: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (03:21–10:12)

The Legal Battle and Preparedness (03:51–04:20)

• Governor Pritzker clarifies the status of legal proceedings:

  "The judge is ... reading the filings and demanded that the federal government submit something by Wednesday so that she could make a ruling potentially on Thursday."
  — Gov. J.B. Pritzker (04:14)

• Notes the rapid arrival of federally activated Texas National Guard troops, not yet in Chicago but nearby at a federal facility.

Constitutionality of Deployment and ICE Tactics (05:20–06:31)

• On Whether ICE Needs National Guard Support:

  "[ICE and CBP] are carrying it out in an extremely aggressive fashion. That borders on breaking the law, federal law and state law... They're using, literally people's skin color as a way to determine whether they're going to stop people and ask them for their papers."
  — Gov. Pritzker (05:40)

• Argues this leads to racial profiling and unnecessary detentions.

Insurrection Act: The Legal and Moral Stakes (06:31–08:31)

• On the Threat of the Insurrection Act:

  "Remember, the Insurrection act has the name insurrection in it for a reason. It's only something that you can effectuate if there is an insurrection, a foreign invasion, a true national emergency. That doesn't exist here..."
  — Gov. Pritzker (06:53)

• Refutes Trump’s framing of Chicago as a war zone, blaming federal agents for escalations:

  "It's ICE and CBP that have been launching grenades with tear gas... they're the ones that are creating mayhem on the ground..."
  — Gov. Pritzker (07:28)

• Asserts that violence is localized and statistics show crime is decreasing in Chicago:

  "...our crime rate has been dropping and dropping, you know, half the homicide rate that it was a few years ago. Double digit declines each year."
  — Gov. Pritzker (08:08)

Legal Precedents and Future Risks (08:31–10:08)

• Concerns Over Judicial Precedent and Presidential Power:

  "The courts have appeared quite willing to increase the power of the president. Are you concerned about where all of this could be going?"
  — Juana Summers (08:31)

• Pritzker acknowledges reliance on judicial checks but voices deep concern about federal supremacy and agent immunity:

  "...the Supremacy Clause says that the federal government's laws essentially override state laws if they're in direct contravention... there's immunity for federal agents from the federal government for much of their activity."
  — Gov. Pritzker (09:02)

• Calls for citizen action and documentation:

  "We've called on people to take action, like creating evidence for our court cases by pulling out their iPhones and their Android phones and filming everything."
  — Gov. Pritzker (09:28)

• Cites an alderman’s ICE detention as an example of misconduct only made public due to bystander video.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Militarization:

  "To put military troops in American cities is a threat to our democracy."
  — Gov. Tina Kotek (00:38)

• On Racial Profiling by ICE:

  "[ICE and CBP are] using, literally, people's skin color as a way to determine whether they're going to stop people and ask them for their papers... Most people don't walk around with papers to prove that I'm a US Citizen."
  — Gov. J.B. Pritzker (05:50)

• On Escalation by Federal Agents:

  "It's ICE and CBP that have been launching grenades with tear gas, that have been pelting people with... rubber bullets, they're the ones that are creating mayhem on the ground..."
  — Gov. J.B. Pritzker (07:28)

• On Documenting Possible Abuses:

  "We wouldn't even know about the aldermen who was detained by ICE for simply standing and asking them questions... It's on film. We wouldn't know about that if someone hadn't pulled out their phone to take video of it."
  — Gov. J.B. Pritzker (09:38)

Timeline & Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Opening / Trump and Federal Rationale | 00:00–01:07| | State/Local Pushback (Kotek remarks) | 00:28–01:07| | Insurrection Act Overview and Trump’s Threat | 01:07–01:42| | Interview with Gov. J.B. Pritzker – Legal Process | 03:51–04:20| | ICE Activity and Criticism | 05:20–06:31| | Insurrection Act, Escalation Claims | 06:31–08:08| | Legal Precedent & Calls for Documentation | 08:31–10:08| | Interview Conclusion | 10:08–10:12|

Summary

In this charged episode, NPR’s Juana Summers and guest Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker break down the extraordinary deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago under the orders of President Trump and the high-stakes legal and political battles now unfolding. Governor Pritzker adamantly rejects the administration’s assertions of emergency, criticizes law enforcement tactics as bordering on illegality and racial profiling, and worries about court precedents expanding presidential power. The conversation situates this moment as a test of federalism, democracy, and the boundary between maintaining order and overstepping constitutional norms.

For listeners:
This episode offers invaluable, up-to-the-minute insight into the intersection of national security, state rights, immigration policy, and democracy at a moment of rare domestic tension.