Pritzker Blasts Trump’s ‘Invasion’ After National Guard Sent Into States Without Consent

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has condemned what he called an “invasion,” after President Donald Trump ordered 400 National Guard troops from Texas to deploy to Illinois, Oregon, and several other states without coordination or approval.

“I call on Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate,” Pritzker wrote on X Sunday night. “There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, however, quickly backed the move, saying he had “fully authorised” Trump’s order.

“You can either fully enforce protection for federal employees or get out of the way and let Texas Guard do it,” Abbott posted, adding that the Texas National Guard “defend our country with pride.”

The clash between the Republican governor of Texas and the Democratic governor of Illinois comes amid a tense national backdrop — large-scale immigration raids and street protests in Chicago, where federal agents have made hundreds of arrests in recent days.

One of the most shocking incidents took place last week when, according to NewsNation, federal agents “rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters” to storm a five-storey apartment building. Residents say children and even US citizens were zip-tied and detained.

“I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer,” said Rodrick Johnson, 67, a US citizen briefly detained during the raid. “They never brought one.”

Protests erupted in Chicago’s Little Village neighbourhood, with demonstrators shouting at ICE and federal officers. Witnesses say agents used tear gas, rubber bullets, and chemical munitions to disperse crowds.

The deployment also sparked immediate legal pushback. A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the transfer of troops to Oregon after that state challenged the order in court.

Oregon’s Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Oregon and California had jointly filed suit to stop what he described as “the unlawful deployment of California National Guard troops to Oregon.”

“Oregon will absolutely not be a party to the president’s attempt to normalise the use of the United States military in our American cities,” Rayfield said.

The two West Coast states initially sought a narrow injunction covering California’s troops but expanded their request after learning Texas Guard units were also being mobilised.

Last week, Trump told a room full of military generals that he expected the armed forces to address what he called “the enemy from within … before it gets out of control.”

For Pritzker and other Democratic governors, that rhetoric, combined with the sudden cross-state deployment, signals a dangerous new precedent: the use of the US military inside domestic borders without state consent.