“A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we would like a dictator,’” President Donald Trump told reporters who asked him about his threats of deploying the National Guard in Chicago. No, Mr. President, no kings, no dictators, no need for the National Guard in Chicago.
We don’t need Trump’s troops on our streets. What we need is investment in our neighborhoods, food on our tables, health care for our families and safety, rooted in justice and opportunity, in our communities. In fact, thanks to the investment in community intervention initiatives, Chicago’s rate of violent crime has fallen 22% this year to date; homicides are down more than 33% and shootings are down 38%. Similar declines have been observed in other Democratic-led cities, such as Baltimore and Washington, D.C., that are also being threatened by Trump’s unlawful actions.
You can’t claim to protect people while stripping away the resources they rely on to survive.
Trump knows that. He knows there is no good reason to deploy the military inside the United States. For him, abusing the power of the National Guard is not about protecting public safety — it’s about control. It’s about threatening diverse, successful Democratic-led cities, like ours, that refuse to bow to authoritarianism.
Trump has repeatedly targeted cities that fight back against his power grabs and harmful, unconstitutional actions — whether by defending immigrants, protecting reproductive rights or standing against his disastrous economic policies like his tariffs. He has sought to use U.S. military power to retaliate against his political opposition, while creating a political spectacle that distracts from his unpopular and damaging policies.
We’ve seen this playbook employed before. Earlier this year, Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to clear peaceful protesters standing up for their neighbors, against his violent immigration raids. Their actions didn’t quell unrest or de-escalate the situation — they inflamed tensions, instigated confrontation and created opportunities for the administration to violate Americans’ constitutional First Amendment rights.
So when Trump talks about “restoring order” with National Guard troops, let’s call it what it is: a suppression of dissent. An expensive, unlawful political stunt. A distraction from failed policies. An attempt to instill fear in the communities that have every right to protest.
Chicago is next on his list. But we will not be intimidated.
Chicago is the city of labor strikes, sanctuary movements and civil rights. We are home to freedom fighters, organizers and community caregivers. We know how to take care of one another — and we know how to defend our rights and communities.
This is not just about one city. It is not about politics. It’s about who we are as a nation.
From day one, this White House has done its best to make Chicagoans poor, sick, scared and silent. Trump and his administration have cut the very programs that keep our communities safe and help us thrive. Under Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Justice Department froze and rescinded community violence prevention grants, undermining programs that were designed to interrupt cycles of gun violence in cities.
His 2025 budget proposes cutting $3 billion from Medicaid and reducing SNAP benefits for millions of working families, gutting access to health care and food for tens of thousands of Chicagoans. These aren’t luxuries; they are the foundation of public safety and community well-being. You can’t claim to protect people while stripping away the resources they rely on to survive.
Instead of stealing our resources and programs to provide trillions of taxpayer dollars to the ultrawealthy in tax breaks, Trump and his administration need to invest in our communities. We see through the smoke and mirrors. The president’s harmful policies, combined with his use of fear-based propaganda and militarization, clearly reflect tactics commonly used by authoritarian regimes to silence dissent. But we will not be silenced nor will we bend the knee. Combined with the National Guard deployments in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., Trump’s threat against Chicago desensitizes us to federal overreach. He is eroding our constitutional boundaries and normalizing the abuse of our military power so that he can succeed where he failed his first term: to undermine our democratic institutions, perpetrate a coup and hold our country hostage. This is not just about one city. It is not about politics. It’s about who we are as a nation. When armed troops are sent into American communities to suppress protests, target civil society leaders or facilitate the disappearances of our neighbors, that is not just a local issue — it strikes at the core of our democracy. We cannot let this continue. Everyone in local government, in the business community, in civil society and in Congress — regardless of political affiliation — needs to show courage, recognize the threat to our people, our freedoms and our democracy, and condemn Trump’s unlawful overreach before it becomes normalized. We need to speak out, to push back and to define the very values that have been laid out by our Constitution: the right to free speech, peaceful assembly and protection from government overreach. If this continues, we risk eroding the very rights that define what it means to be American.
Rep. Delia Ramirez
Delia Ramirez represents Illinois' 3rd Congressional district in the House of Representatives. 
