Congressman to Trump on troops: Don't even think about it
Sens. Duckworth, Durbin introduce bill to block deployment
Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia issued a stern warning to President Trump against deploying federal troops to Chicago. (Facebook)
By Ted Cox
A Chicago congressman issued a challenge to President Trump Tuesday on the possible deployment of federal troops to the city, telling him: “Don’t even think about trying what you did in Portland in Chicago — not here, not ever, not on our watch.”
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia made the remarks in a digital news conference Tuesday morning after news broke Monday that the Trump administration is preparing to send 150 agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Chicago to quell unrest, just as it has in Portland, Ore.
“It’s very clear that this is all about politics, this is all about distracting from the coronavirus pandemic and the mishandling of it by this administration,” Garcia said. “And we will not be an accessory to that.”
Garcia pounded home the point that it was all a political attempt to distract voters from the pandemic Trump has repeatedly refused to take a lead role in addressing. “Sending unwanted, unsolicited troops to Chicago is wrong,” he said. “Such a deployment in Chicago represents a hideous overreach of federal authority. And it’s just the latest example of the president’s desperate attempt to distract us from his abysmal handling of the deadly coronavirus.
“In an effort to appear as the law-and-order president, Trump is completely ignoring the ravaging virus that has now killed 140,000 Americans,” Garcia added. “The president is desperate to turn the page on a botched response to COVID-19 and a failed attempt to end” immigration reform, as with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin pressed the DACA issue earlier this month on the Senate floor, and on Tuesday he joined with Senate colleagues, including fellow Illinoisan Tammy Duckworth and both senators from Oregon, in introducing legislation that would block the federal troop deployment.
“The right to peacefully protest is fundamental to our democracy, and Americans should be able to exercise this right without the threat or use of force by members of law enforcement,” Durbin said. “This legislation will preserve the right of the people to peaceably assemble and prevent the president from unnecessarily escalating tension in cities across America.”
“What’s happening in Portland, and what could happen in Chicago or any number of cities across the country, is deeply troubling,” Duckworth said. “Law-enforcement agents are meant to protect and serve our communities — but the Trump administration is using this as another opportunity to trample on the First Amendment rights of Americans to peacefully assemble and to indiscriminately arrest Americans.”
The bill submitted Tuesday, which is also being attached as an amendment to a military-spending bill, would require federal troops to wear individual identification also identifying their federal agency, would limit their jurisdiction to federal properties, would call on the agency to be open and transparent on the size of the deployment and troops involved, and would bar the federal troops from making arrests.
In Portland, federal troops have been unmarked in camouflage uniforms, and have literally pulled protesters off the streets and into unmarked vans.
Garcia said Tuesday that similar legislation would be introduced in the U.S. House, and he took issue with Trump’s attempt to tar peaceful protests as “anarchists” or a “mob.”
“The president seeks to use the most strident language,” Garcia said. While he granted that recent peaceful protests in Chicago had been tainted by elements “embedded” in the crowd seeking a confrontation with police, he emphasized, “The vast, vast majority of them are peaceful protesters.”
Garcia charged that Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf had “demonized peaceful protesters” by labeling them as “anarchists,” and that “he and the president repeatedly refer to peaceful protesters as ‘the angry mob.’”
In response, Garcia cited the Portland mothers who have acted as a buffer between troops and protesters. They were chased out by troops using pepper gas Sunday night, only to return in greater numbers with additional crowds of protesters Monday night. “Still, the president calls them ‘the angry mob’ and thugs,” Garcia added.
Garcia contrasted that with the way Trump coddled racist marchers in Charlottesville, Va., early in his presidency, and goaded others to “liberate” states from stay-at-home orders early in the pandemic, even as they carried rifles and assault weapons to demonstrations outside state capitols. “The president was silent if not encouraging,” Garcia charged.
“It is not a coincidence that he is selecting places like Chicago, cities that have powerful and strong immigrant communities,” Garcia said, and also that the cities he’s threatened to deploy troops to are all governed by Democratic mayors.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has made it clear that she is not asking for federal assistance in law enforcement. Although she and Trump have sparred repeatedly over Trump’s attacks on the city, she said in a letter Monday that she’d welcome federal aid in getting guns off the street.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker also spoke out against the possible deployment Tuesday in Collinsville.
Garcia charged Tuesday that he had documentation federal troops were engaging in “cross-designation training,” in which troops from other federal agencies aid Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents in rounding up undocumented immigrants.
Calling Chicago “America’s first sanctuary city,” Garcia said, “Under the guise of protecting federal property, I fear the presence of unwanted federal agents in our city streets will only escalate tensions and violence in our communities.”
Garcia’s district is largely Hispanic, and he has repeatedly tangled with Trump on immigration issues.
“He has no bounds of decency,” Garcia said. “We’re seeing federal agencies utilized for the president’s political agenda.
“Trump is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to silence dissent,” he added, calling it “disturbing to say the least, un-American at best.”
The congressman urged that “now more than ever we must march in solidarity,” adding, “Our democracy and freedom is under attack.”