U.S. President Donald Trump last month deployed the National Guard to Washington.Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press
Debra Thompson is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail.
In early August, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a “public safety emergency” and ordered 800 National Guard troops to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C. Two weeks later the President signed an executive order expanding the role of the National Guard to “quell civil disturbances,” and in recent days, Mr. Trump has threatened to send troops to Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans.
The move follows the use of the National Guard in Los Angeles in June, because, according to the Trump administration, protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids constituted “a form of rebellion against the authority of the United States.” A United States federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s deployment of 4,000 National Guard and 700 active-duty U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in June was unlawful, exceeding legal limits that prohibit the use of military personnel in domestic law enforcement.
It is a temporary setback to the President’s broader goal of turning the National Guard into his personal police force.
U.S. judge blocks Trump administration’s use of National Guard troops in L.A.
District of Columbia sues Trump administration over deployment of National Guard
In an era marked by the slash-and-burn decimation of the federal public service and government programs, it is notable that unconstrained deployment of the punitive and coercive arms of the state – that is, law and immigration enforcement – has not simply remained untouched, but has actually expanded, seemingly immune to austerity measures or paranoia about the so-called “deep state.” This is because Mr. Trump views ICE and the National Guard in much the same way he understands the power of the presidency – these are his personal tools, to do with as he pleases.
The official justification for the military occupation of Washington, D.C., is flimsy, at best. Many have pointed out that violent crime is down, but this administration has never been particularly interested in facts or data. Symbolism matters more than substance, and evidence is less compelling than the imagery of power consolidated through the spectacle of military force. The images circulating online of members of the National Guard in military fatigues marching past a federal building adorned with a giant, glaring picture of Mr. Trump’s face resemble something out of an authoritarian country or dystopian timeline. So, too, the way that ICE has been operating like a secret police force – masked faces, in unmarked cars, and appearing suddenly in immigration court hearings and Home Depot parking lots – works to discipline and control populations through surveillance and fear.
In both cases, the presence of troops and federal immigration agents on the streets of American cities serves a twofold purpose.
First, it forces “crime” back into the national conversation. Republicans have long viewed their “tough on crime” stance as a key component of the party’s platform, even as their understanding of crime has rarely extended to wage theft, corporate crime, sexual violence, or corruption. By declaring that American cities are “hellholes,” Mr. Trump is stoking public perception – especially among the Republican base – of lawlessness, fear, and disorder, setting up his own unlawful power grab as necessary to reinstate domestic order. It also, conveniently, deflects attention away from other bad news the President hasn’t been able to control – the economy, constantly changing tariffs, angry citizens in townhalls across the country, and the Epstein files.
Political standoff intensifies over Trump’s plans for Chicago immigration crackdown
Second, deploying the National Guard sets up a war with cities and the Democrats who inhabit and control them. Urban centres tend to vote Democrat, and are increasingly divided from rural areas in terms not just of partisanship, but also earnings, education, health outcomes, and access to public services. And, of course, there are clear dog whistles being evoked here, too – it’s no coincidence that Chicago, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C., have significant Black populations. Mr. Trump is using a time-honoured American tradition of associating Blackness, and especially Black-led democratic protest, with criminality, disorder, and unlawfulness.
Mr. Trump is stoking a dangerous situation in which federal troops, deployed through presidential power, will inevitably clash with the city dwellers. The National Guard and ICE aren’t just the two agencies that the President controls; they are the two he considers the loyal extensions of his will. Mr. Trump believes that cities, on the other hand, are a menace. They are sites of resistance and protest against his political agenda, with Democratic lawmakers at both city and state levels passing measures to limit municipal co-operation with federal immigration enforcement, to protect gender-affirming care for trans youth, and to add legal protections for both patients and providers in states where abortion is still legal. The looming confrontation among civilians exercising their constitutional rights, municipal governments exercising their constitutional authority, and a militarized federal response risks pushing the nation further toward a crisis in which the machinery of the state is turned against those it claims to represent and protect.