The president said on social media that the National Guard succeeded in reducing crime in three cities.
President Donald Trump said on Dec. 31 that he will be withdrawing National Guard troops from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon, whom he previously federalized to deal with civil unrest.
Although the federal Posse Comitatus Act restricts the ability of the federal government to use military resources for domestic law enforcement, a president may take over, or federalize, state National Guard troops on an emergency basis in certain circumstances. The president has federalized troops in various cities to deal with violence he said was interfering with the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration law.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, saying he would remove the National Guard from the three cities even though crime “has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities.”
The president also criticized local leaders who have opposed his deployments.
He wrote in the post that it was “hard to believe that these Democrat Mayors and Governors, all of whom are greatly incompetent, would want us to leave, especially considering the great progress that has been made?”
The federal government’s policy change came after a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 23 that Trump may not deploy National Guard troops to Chicago to protect federal immigration agents.
“At this preliminary stage, the government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the court said in an unsigned order. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
Illinois and Chicago sued on Oct. 6 after Secretary of War Pete Hegseth invoked Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code to federalize up to 300 members of the Illinois National Guard and up to 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployment in Chicago.
In its order, the Supreme Court acknowledged that federal immigration enforcement efforts “have encountered significant resistance, as well as some violence, in Chicago.”
