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I have spent the last few weeks addressing and preparing for a military invasion by the President of the United States. No, I’m not a soldier or a foreign adversary. I’m the Governor of Illinois, one of our nation’s largest and most prosperous states.
This is the reality we face, and it is not acceptable. Even though there is no emergency or insurrection, Donald Trump has put blue states that he considers his enemies in the crosshairs for political punishment. As we work to overcome his Medicaid and SNAP cuts, grow our economy despite his new tariff taxes, balance our budget, rebuild our roads, and help students learn, we must now face a new reality. We have to support our communities as Trump’s ICE agents run rampant on our streets with impunity and detain U.S. citizens—while at the same time navigating the ongoing threats of sending in the National Guard.
I am not surprised. Trump has held onto an obsessive hatred for Illinois since before his first term, and he’s been disparaging Chicago—the most American of cities—since long before he built Trump Tower Chicago. He knows our city is too great, too beloved, and too resilient to ever embrace a small-minded wannabe dictator like him. Everything Trump stands for upsets our collective Midwestern values of hard work, kindness, honesty and caring for our neighbors.
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I could tell you how Chicago’s homicide rate has dropped by nearly 50 percent since the summer of 2021 and is not even in the top 25 most dangerous cities in the U.S; or how Illinois ranks in the top half of states for lowest violent crime rate and has invested more than $250 million violence prevention programs that actually work. I could tell you how Illinois ranks 6th nationally in per capita investments in our police force. And that even with all of this progress, we still have work to do. Indeed, that’s what we’re doing—every single day.
But we all know that Trump’s campaign to militarize Chicago isn’t about crime.
So the question remains: What is this about, and what are we going to do about it?
Chaos and destabilization are the means. Eroding our democratic institutions is his end-goal. He is looking to cause mayhem in the big cities of blue states to create an excuse to call in the military and lay the foundation for actions far more craven.
If your goal is to give tax breaks to yourself and your wealthy friends, then stripping millions of people of their healthcare and food assistance to pay for it makes sense. And if that causes the majority of the public to want to vote against your party, thwarting their will in the 2026 elections requires forceful intervention in the election process.
If your goal is to cement your power, then it’s rational to pardon your most ardent criminal supporters who have been convicted of carrying out violent acts on your behalf. They will be your civilian army.
If your goal is to cause as much chaos as possible, then punishing states that have protected their people from your policies—consequently obstructing your agenda—by sending in our National Guard makes sense.
To justify such rash maneuvers, Trump has claimed that states that protect immigrants are thwarting crime-fighting by doing so. Which is just nonsense.
Our laws protect our people. In Illinois, we have the Trust Act—signed into law by my Republican predecessor—which prevents state and local law enforcement in Illinois from assisting federal agents with civil immigration actions. This serves two purposes: First, we want local law enforcement officials to focus on fighting actual violent crime, while leaving federal immigration agents to enforce federal immigration laws. Second, we want ALL communities to feel comfortable calling law enforcement to seek help, report crimes, and cooperate in investigations—regardless of their immigration status.
SubscribedWe support non-profits on the ground who are leading the charge on Know Your Rights campaigns; providing legal services and other support services for immigrants and their families. Illinois proudly has one of the strongest and most impactful networks of advocacy groups supporting targeted communities in the country. In February, even Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan acknowledged the impact of these campaigns.
But Trump has become increasingly brazen and deranged in his rhetoric and his actions—even going so far as to declare war against Chicago. No President should talk about Chicago like it’s a place to be conquered. And no President should talk about Americans like they are objects of his ire.
What Trump is doing and saying are un-American. That’s why we must all stand up and speak out. Be loud, for America.
He may attack the people of Illinois—but then what comes next? This is bigger than one state. Every day, I am hellbent on letting people know what is at stake. On the ground here, I am sharing whatever information we have about Trump’s nefarious plans with my fellow Illinoisans. I’m meeting with community violence intervention groups, immigration leaders, faith leaders, business leaders, small businesses and communities throughout Chicagoland, because all of us have a role in this fight.
Our country has survived darker periods than the one we are going through now—but that only happened because good people refused to stay silent. The attacks must end with Chicago. So I’m asking you, my fellow Americans across the nation: instead of being bystanders, be upstanders for our democracy.
Unlike Donald Trump, most Americans believe in the ideals our nation was founded upon. Now is the time to stand up for those noble ideals.
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